Netflix is teasing the next movie collaboration of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, with the two actors cast alongside each other in The Rip. The two longtime friends have been working together for years, with their careers being launched by the 1997 drama, Good Will Hunting, which earned them Academy Award wins for the screenplay they wrote together.
Their careers have since flourished, with each becoming a mega-star in their own right. Affleck has gone on to become an Oscar-winning director, even donning Batman’s cowl, with Damon working with lauded directors like Christopher Nolan and the Coen Brothers. While the two have worked together over the years, with dramas like Air and The Last Duel, the actors have left fans wanting a particular type of collaboration, with Netflix’s The Rip looking to be delivering something the duo should have done 28 years ago.
Matt Damon & Ben Affleck Followed Unique Career Paths After ‘Good Will Hunting’
Miramax Films
While Good Will Hunting put Damon and Affleck on Hollywood’s radar, earning them loyal fans, they each followed their own paths. Damon immediately followed his Oscar win with Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan, along with dramas like Finding Forrester and All the Pretty Horses. He also joined major franchises, being part of the ensemble cast in the Ocean’s Eleven movies and starring as Jason Bourne in the hit thriller spy series. In recent years, Damon has continued to build his impressive resume, working with Nolan on Oppenheimer and Interstellar, and with Ridley Scott on The Martian.
Affleck also veered into big-budget follow-ups, like Michael Bay’s Armageddon, and drama flare, with Shakespeare in Love and Bounce. The actor played numerous high-profile roles, like Daredevil, and even Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan in The Sum of All Fears. Affleck also made a notable foray into directing, with lauded hits that include The Town and his best picture-winning thriller, Argo. Still, the actor-turned-director has also made his mark as an action star, thanks to roles in The Accountant and as the DCEU’s Batman.
Damon and Affleck reteamed in a few Kevin Smith comedies, like Dogma and Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, with their recent collaborations steadily in dramatic territory, like 2021’s period piece, The Last Duel. However, their next collaboration is The Rip, which feels like the type of film the two could have made in the early 2000s.
‘The Rip’ Looks Like an Early 2000s Crime Thriller
The trailer for The Rip sees Affleck and Damon playing Miami cops who discover a mountain of money, leading to distrust among the ranks in the group. This simple premise works excellently to fuel a crime thriller, laying the ground for tension, action-packed shootouts, and character betrayals, playing on ideas of good cops versus corrupt law enforcement. Much of that is thanks to writer and director Joe Carnahan, who is accomplished in the genre, making a name for himself in the early 2000s.
Carnahan first gained attention thanks to his gritty 2002 cop drama Narc, which put fans squarely in the world of shifting police loyalties and corruption. He followed that with Smokin’ Aces, which starred Affleck, and was notably the actor’s first time ever wearing a squib for gunshot hits. Carnahan continued the trend with big-budget movies, like The A-Team, and smaller affairs, like Gerard Butler’s 2021 Copshop.
The Rip looks to fall in line with what Carnahan excels at doing, bringing the grim worlds to life, with stories rife with moral quandaries. The trailer promises a look and feel on par with what he delivered over 20 years ago with Narc, and it is setting Affleck and Damon up for the type of collaboration that fans have been wanting to see for years.
Damon & Affleck Should’ve Made ‘The Rip’ Years Ago
Netflix
During the late 1990s and early aughts, Damon found success with gritty movies like Rounders, seeing him as an underground poker player, and Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, plunging him into the world of corrupt cops. Affleck also spent time dabbling in the crime genre at the time, with movies like Boiler Room, Changing Lanes, and Reindeer Games, which all feel like a distinct product of the era. The influence of crime capers was also not lost on Affleck as he shifted to directing, as Gone Baby Gone, The Town, and Live by Night all fall into the genre.
However, Damon and Affleck have never teamed up in the crime thriller genre until now. Thanks to Carnahan’s love of dirty cops and grim stories, The Rip feels like the type of film that the two actors would have starred in at the time, like The Departed or even Affleck’s Changing Lanes. While fans were clamoring for the actors to join forces on projects throughout the years, The Rip is poised to deliver on throwback movie-making nostalgia, almost like the duo acknowledging they should have embraced the genre collaboration sooner.
The Rip gives off the vibe of Affleck and Damon putting their own spin on a movie like Training Day. The trailer gives off the feel of older crime films, like Heat, Dark Blue, and Collateral, embodying something fans should have gotten from the Good Will Hunting stars shortly after their Oscar win rather than almost 30 years later. While The Rip doesn’t hit Netflix until January 16, the movie’s early tease promises something that has been a long time coming.
Release Date
January 16, 2026
Runtime
133 minutes
