Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel reunited Damon and Affleck but underperformed

Collider reports Ridley Scott's 2021 medieval drama The Last Duel reunited Matt Damon and Ben Affleck but underperformed commercially, grossing $27 million worldwide on a $100 million budget.

Developed as a Fox picture and ending up in Disney's hands after the studio merger, the film was released in October 2021 to strong critical acclaim but weak mass appeal; the article says Disney "proceeded to unceremoniously dump it in theaters with little fanfare," and marketing largely failed to spotlight the Damon–Affleck reunion. Written by Damon, Affleck and Nicole Holofcener and starring Adam Driver and Jodie Comer alongside Damon, the Rashomon-inspired triptych follows the eyewitness accounts of Jean, Jacques and Marguerite and confronts contemporary gender dynamics in a #MeToo context. The piece notes Damon and Affleck share only a few scenes but calls the film among each actor's finest work.

The reporting says the experience of making The Last Duel rekindled Damon and Affleck's creative bond—Damon recalled to AP that his wife told him she "hadn't heard you laugh like that in 15 years," prompting him to ask, "Why aren't we doing this more often?" Two years later they reunited on Air and are now leading a new Netflix cop/drug-trafficking thriller, The Rip, directed by Joe Carnahan and co-starring Kyle Chandler, Teyana Taylor and Steven Yeun. The Last Duel is available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.

Key Topics

Culture, Ridley Scott, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, The Rip, Metoo Movement