Ben Affleck has two films he’s promoting this season The George Clooney-directedThe Tender Barstarring alongside Tye Sheridanin the bittersweet coming-of-age story.Affleck’s portayal of the Long Island bar-owning, advice-giving Uncle Charlie has been praised by fans and critics alike. Then we haveThe Last Duel. The film is set amid the Hundred Years War. Based on actual events, the movie unravels long-held assumptions about France’s last sanctioned duel between Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) and Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver), two friends who became bitter rivals. Ben Affleck portrays Count Pierre d’Alençon.The box office spoke loud and clear. Bomb. But a bomb of a different color, as Affleck describes it.
So who better to discuss these conversely critiqued films than with life-long friend Matt Damon? Damon sat down with Ben Affleck forEWto discuss his career from beginning to end. While both actors got their big breaks in 1992, and obviously the tear-jerking acceptance speech at the Oscars forGood Will Hunting, they both speak of the inspiration ofRichard Linklaterearly in their careers.
Ben Affleck On Working With Richard Linklater: “It Was an Abundance of Riches”
“He was a model to us as we looked around and thought for the first time, ‘Maybe we can make our own movie,’ you know? You can doReservoir DogsorSlackerorClerksorDo the Right Thing. People were kind of working outside of the system, and that was inspiring.
“Look, it’s a bunch of 19-year-old kids shooting nights in a party scene in Texas. So it was barely distinguishable, the time at the hotel and the time on the set. I got to know Matthew [McConaughey] when he was first starting out. Rory [Cochrane], I stayed friends with him, he was inArgo. Anthony Rapp and Joey Lauren Adams and Renée Zellweger, it was just an abundance of riches.”
“And then it bombed. Bombed! Nobody saw the movie, but it got great reviews. I remember there was a [former EW film critic] Owen Gleiberman review saying ‘Once every decade…’ and I thought this was hyperbole. But it ended up being true, it’s a real cult movie that people still talk about and I’m glad to be a part of it. And again, I was the single unappealing character in a movie of enormously appealing people. So not a great career strength. [Laughs]”
As for the supposed ‘bomb’ ofThe Last Duel? Matt Damon had this to say. “Obviously it was a box office failure. But interestingly enough, it’s number one on iTunes. So it means that thereisan audience, just one that was unwilling to go in the middle of a pandemic to the theater. How does that make you feel, coming out with another drama — did COVID just accelerate something that was going to take 10 or 15 years, or is it coming back?”
Affleck is probably hitting the nail on the head when he responds, “If I had to bet, a drama likeArgowould not be made theatrically now. That wasn’t that long ago. It would be a limited series. I think movies in theaters are going to become more expensive, event-ized. They’re mostly going to be for younger people, and mostly about “Hey, I’m so into theMarvel Universe, I can’t wait to see what happens next.” And there’ll be 40 movies a year theatrically, probably, all IP, sequel, animated.”
As for IP’s and sequels,The Flashis scheduled to be released in the United States on July 05, 2025.
