Why Ben Affleck & Matt Damon Finally Reunited As Writers After 24 Years – And What Took So Long

After 24 years of writing hiatus for The Last Duel, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon reunite. Discover why they finally collaborated again and what made it possible this time.

By
Koimoi.com Team
- January 1, 2025 | 4:58 PM IST
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Alright, here’s the tea: it’s been a whopping 24 years since Ben Affleck and Matt Damon gave us Good Will Hunting and that legendary ‘How do you like them apples?’ moment. They won an Oscar for it, no biggie, but then poof—no more writing collabs. So, what took these bros so long to team up again?

In ‘97, these two were broke and clueless while writing Good Will Hunting. Damon even joked that the process was so exhausting it scared them off from writing again. Add two busy schedules and their A-list Hollywood careers, and yeah, writing together just kept getting pushed aside.

Then came The Last Duel—a gritty, real-life historical drama directed by Ridley Scott, where a knight challenges his squire to a duel after the squire allegedly assaults the knight’s wife. Affleck and Damon couldn’t resist jumping back in, and this time, they brought Nicole Holofcener (Enough Said) into the mix for that fresh, female perspective. Damon admitted she had to craft Marguerite’s whole story from scratch and give her a voice that really brought it to life.

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So why now? Affleck says the book’s story hit them hard, especially Marguerite’s courage and resilience. After years of bouncing ideas off each other, they realized they missed creating together.

Writing this time wasn’t a grind, unlike their Good Will Hunting days. They’ve learned a thing or two about storytelling after 25 years in the biz, and Damon even joked that having a great writer like Holofcener on board made their lives way easier.

The film hit theaters in October 2021, marking a big writing reunion for the iconic duo. And guess what? They’re not waiting another two decades to team up again. Damon hinted, “If we make time, we can get a lot done.”

Here’s hoping we see more from these two—because movie magic happens when Affleck and Damon get together.

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