Summary
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s new movie is the closest they’ll ever come to actually making aGood Will Huntingsequel. Affleck and Damon, who got their massive Hollywood break for starring and writing the 1997 coming-of-age classic, are teaming up once again withGood Will Huntingdirector Gus van Sant in the upcoming film Killing Gawker.Damon and Affleck notably won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, which remains to be Damon’s only Oscar to this day, although Affleck also won for his 2013 Best Picture winnerArgo. Van Sant was nominated for Best Directing Oscars forGood Will HuntingandMilk(2008).
Surprisingly,Affleck and Damon have only co-written one other screenplay afterGood Will Hunting.Damon has only written screenplays for three other movies, includingGerry(2002) andPromised Land(2012). Affleck, on the other hand, wrote the screenplays forGone Baby Gone(2007),The Town(2010), andLive By Night(2016). Van Sant hasn’t written a screenplay since 2018’sDon’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Footstarring Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, and Jonah Hill. The new Affleck, Damon, and Van Sant collaboration, however, is written by Oscar-winning screenwriter Charles Randolph ofThe Big ShortandBombshellacclaim.
Killing Gawker Finally Reunites Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, & Gus Van Sant After Good Will Hunting
Good Will Hunting launched the A-list careers of Affleck and Damon
Damon and Affleck are set to star in their first movie since 2023’sAirwithGus van Sant’sKilling Gawker. Although at face value some might mistake the Hulk Hogan association inKilling Gawkeras a wrestling movie the likes of 2023’sThe Iron Claw,Killing Gawkeris actually a sort of legal drama that involves Hulk Hogan, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, and the formerly popular news website Gawker. Additionally,Damon and Affleck have another collaborationin the works calledRIP, an action comedy. Affleck also producedDamon’s recent heist comedyThe Instigatorswhich also features a star appearance from Oscar-winner andGood Will Huntingalum Casey Affleck.
According toThe Hollywood Reporter, “In November 2016, Gawker Media agreed to pay $31 million to Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, to settle the sex tape lawsuit filed by the famed wrestler over the company publishing an excerpt of the footage. The case surrounded a 2012 article that included portions of the video filmed six years prior, and it led to Gawker’s website being shut down. Peter Thiel, the billionaire tech entrepreneur who co-founded PayPal, helped finance Hogan’s lawsuit and is said to be a key character in the film.” It was also reported thatAffleck is being eyed for the part of Hulk Hogan.
Ben Affleck & Matt Damon’s 2 Best Team-Ups Since Good Will Hunting Were Both Box Office Letdowns
The combination of Ben Affleck & Matt Damon is one of Hollywood’s most reliable duos, although some of their best collabs failed at the box office.
Ben Affleck & Matt Damon Already Turned Down A Good Will Hunting Sequel
Damon & Affleck have zero interest in a legitimate sequel
Damon and Affleck confirmed as recently as 2023 that they had beenpitched a legitimate sequel toGood Will Hunting, which both actors swiftly turned down. The last time that Damon and Affleck portrayed their Will Hunting and Chuckie Sullivan characters in a movie was actually in a comedic segment of2001’sJay and Silent Bob Strike Backas a favor to director Kevin Smith, which is a joke made in the film itself. Smith was initially one of the filmmakers that Damon and Affleck had wanted to directGood Will Huntingbefore Van Sant took the reins.
Van Sant even appears in theJay and Silent Bob Strike Backbitas they shoot a scene in the fictionalGood Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season. AGood Will Huntingtelevision series was reportedly in development back in 2013 but nothing ever came of it and most likely never will. While aGood Will Huntingsequel may sound appealing, the film would greatly risk the integrity of the original movie and would be missing one of, if not the, most magnetic and profound characters in Robin Williams' Sean Maguire. Ultimately, Damon and Affleck have been wise to turn downGood Will Hunting 2ideas outside of Smith’s comedic parody.
Good Will Hunting Ending Exlained: What “He Stole My Line” Means
The last line of Good Will Hunting created a perfect full-circle moment that cemented the film’s thoughtful story despite being completely unscripted.
Killing Gawker’s Good Will Hunting Reunion Is More Exciting Than A Real Sequel
Damon & Affleck are keeping up their Air momentum
Damon and Affleck proved with 2023’sAirthattheir onscreen partnership is still as reliable and in-demand as ever. While the two have unquestionably found individual Hollywood success on their own, the prospect of them teaming up on several future collaborations, especially with Van Sant at the helm, is highly encouraging. It’s also a relief that they are looking to challenge themselves with new material and aren’t leaning heavily into their previous accomplishments, which is whatGood Will Hunting 2would have inevitably come off as. Damon and Affleck still have plenty of juice left in the tank, which makes expectations forKilling Gawkeralready sky high.
Killing Gawker
Killing Gawker: An upcoming film that dramatizes the high-profile legal battle between professional wrestler Hulk Hogan and the now-defunct gossip website Gawker. The courtroom clash centers around privacy and the implications of publishing personal content without consent.
