Ben Affleck Reportedly Set to Direct Ex-Wife Jennifer Garner In An Upcoming Netflix Crime Thriller

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published 17 February 2024

Ben Affleck was the muse behind wife Jennifer Lopez’s sweeping project This Is Me…Now, which includes a new album, a musically infused film (both of which were released yesterday), and a forthcoming documentary about it all.

Now, reports are emerging that Affleck’s ex-wife Jennifer Garner will collaborate with him on a new project, which will also include Affleck’s longtime best friend Matt Damon. The film, a crime thriller called Animals, will appear on Netflix, The Hollywood Reporter writes, adding that Garner is currently in negotiations.

Affleck is directing the film and is producing alongside Damon under their Artists Equity banner, the outlet reports. “Pieces are still being put together, including Garner’s deal, but if it all fits, the thriller could be before cameras in Los Angeles starting [in] March,” The Hollywood Reporter writes.

The plot centers around a mayoral candidate (to be played by Damon) and his wife (potentially played by Garner) whose son is kidnapped. “Surrounded by plenty of enemies, political and otherwise, the husband and wife have no choice but to get their hands dirty in order to save their son,” The Hollywood Reporter details.

Garner is already a Netflix favorite, appearing in hits for the streaming service like Family Switch, The Adam Project, and Yes Day. Interestingly, Affleck and Garner have appeared together in three movies, all made before their 2005 marriage: 2001’s Pearl Harbor, 2003’s Daredevil, and that movie’s spinoff, Elektra, released in 2005. Though the former couple acted together in that trio of movies, Garner has never been directed by Affleck.

Affleck and Garner divorced in 2018 after 13 years of marriage and three children together.

As for Affleck and Damon, the best friends are famous at this point for working together, beginning with their Oscar-winning debut Good Will Hunting in 1997 up to last year’s Nike drama Air. After the success of Good Will Hunting—for which the duo won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay—they considered going their separate ways professionally, but it didn’t quite shake out that way, People reports.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck — Affleck and Damon at this year's Golden Globes

“For a while, we thought maybe we should chill and just do other stuff, and not be Matt and Ben, Matt and Ben,” Affleck said in Boston Magazine (their shared hometown). “We have our company together, we’re developing together. And Matt lives down the street from me like he used to. His kids are living with him, the way we used to live with our folks. The only difference is that we have pools.”

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.

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