Ben Affleck & Matt Damon's New Movie Is The Closest We'll Ever Get To A Good Will Hunting Sequel (2024)

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's new movie is the closest they'll ever come to actually making a Good Will Hunting sequel. Affleck and Damon, who got their massive Hollywood break for starring and writing the 1997 coming-of-age classic, are teaming up once again with Good Will Hunting director 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 winner Argo. Van Sant was nominated for Best Directing Oscars for Good Will Hunting and Milk (2008).

Surprisingly, Affleck and Damon have only co-written one other screenplay after Good Will Hunting. Damon has only written screenplays for three other movies, including Gerry (2002) and Promised Land (2012). Affleck, on the other hand, wrote the screenplays for Gone Baby Gone (2007), The Town (2010), and Live By Night (2016). Van Sant hasn't written a screenplay since 2018's Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot starring Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, and Jonah Hill. The new Affleck, Damon, and Van Sant collaboration, however, is written by Oscar-winning screenwriter Charles Randolph of The Big Short and Bombshell acclaim.

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's Air with Gus van Sant's Killing Gawker. Although at face value some might mistake the Hulk Hogan association in Killing Gawker as a wrestling movie the likes of 2023's The Iron Claw, Killing Gawker is 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 collaboration in the works called RIP, an action comedy. Affleck also produced Damon's recent heist comedy The Instigators which also features a star appearance from Oscar-winner and Good Will Hunting alum Casey Affleck.

According to The 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 that Affleck is being eyed for the part of Hulk Hogan.

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 been pitched a legitimate sequel to Good 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 of 2001's Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back as 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 direct Good Will Hunting before Van Sant took the reins.

Van Sant even appears in the Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back bit as they shoot a scene in the fictional Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season. A Good Will Hunting television series was reportedly in development back in 2013 but nothing ever came of it and most likely never will. While a Good Will Hunting sequel 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 down Good Will Hunting 2 ideas outside of Smith's comedic parody.

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's Air that their 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 what Good Will Hunting 2 would have inevitably come off as. Damon and Affleck still have plenty of juice left in the tank, which makes expectations for Killing Gawker already sky high.