More than two decades after winning Oscar gold for their work on Good Will Hunting, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are reuniting on screen. The duo are costarring in and, with Nicole Holofcener, cowriting the upcoming film The Last Duel, according to Deadline.
Ridley Scott, who directed Damon in the 2015 science fiction film The Martian, will helm the project, which is based on Eric Jager’s 2005 book about dueling warriors in 14th-century France. The book’s synopsis calls it “the gripping, atmospheric true story of the ‘duel to end all duels’ in medieval France: a trial by combat pitting a knight against a squire accused of violating the knight’s beautiful young wife.”
Affleck, 46, and Damon, 48, will work on the script alongside Holofcener, 59, who is coming off a 2019 Academy Award nomination for adapting Can You Ever Forgive Me? for the big screen. And the two actors will also produce the film through their Pearl Street Films shingle, joining Scott and his Scott Free Productions. Pearl Street made headlines in March 2018 by adopting an inclusion rider for all projects moving forward.
Friends since childhood, Affleck and Damon hit the big time when they won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for the 1997 drama film Good Will Hunting, in which they starred alongside Robin Williams. They also appeared together in 1989’s Field of Dreams, 1992’s School Ties, 1997’s Chasing Amy and 1999’s Dogma, as well as the HBO filmmaking competition Project Greenlight.
They are a solid pair on screen and off — as Affleck recovers from substance abuse issues, Damon “continues to be a huge support” for his best friend, an insider told Us Weekly in September 2018. “He’ll always be there for Ben whenever he needs him,” the insider added.
