'I can't wait to see what people think' - When Matt Damon teased about future scripts with Ben Affleck after 25-year gap

Over two decades since we saw Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's meteoric rise as Hollywood's celebrated duo with their Oscar-winning screenplay for "Good Will Hunting", the pair seems ready for an encore. Speaking at the New York premiere of Damon's film "Stillwater," Damon dropped hints of possible future scripts in collaboration with Affleck, as reported by Variety in 2021.

"We Wrote It Like Professional Writers"

"I wasn't expecting it, because Venice is just six weeks before the movie opens," Damon told Variety, commenting on the news that "The Last Duel," his collaboration with Affleck, was set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September 2021.

Recalling their writing process for "The Last Duel", Damon stated, "We wrote so much faster than we wrote 'Good Will Hunting,' just because our process has become so much more efficient." The blockbuster duo appeared to have come a long way from their initial Hollywood days, learning about the structure and outlining their script like seasoned writers.

Challenging the All-American Trope in 'Stillwater'

"Stillwater" saw Damon in the role of a roughneck oil rig worker from Oklahoma who journeys to France to rectify his daughter's wrongful murder conviction. According to the film's director, Tom McCarthy, casting Damon was about creating a protagonist that diverges from the Jason Bourne-type roles, which Damon is most recognized for.

"We wanted an actor who audiences are used to trusting, whose integrity and sense of purpose was almost unquestionable—and then question that," McCarthy stated.

The film aimed to examine the 'all-American' trope that is often embodied by Damon's characters. "We started thinking about America's moral authority in the world. In movies, that's often a man on a mission. But we don't live in that world anymore," McCarthy further added.

In sum, Matt Damon continues to keep us intrigued, whether it's the anticipation of more scripts with Affleck or his efforts to challenge the familiar narratives of American characters. After all, as Damon points out, "That mission is sometimes just pure fiction."

(Several parts of the text in this article, including the title, were generated with the help of an AI tool.)