3 Years Later, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon Finally Reunite on Screen (And Movie Fans Are Already Excited)

Ever since they took home Oscar gold with Good Will Hunting, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have been a Hollywood pairing that film fans can’t get enough of. Starring together (and writing) that 1997 movie kicked off their career in major ways, and after appearances in Kevin Smith’s movies (notably Dogma) the pair’s collaborations were mostly behind the camera, producing projects together via their two production companies, previously Pearl Street Films and currently with Artists Equity. It’s been years since the two appeared on screen together, but now Netflix has confirmed the hiatus is ending, and with a movie that already has fans hyped.

A new movie premiering in theaters in January may seem like a death sentence, but the full trailer for Netflix’s The Rip seems to be bucking that trend in a major way. Netflix has released the full look at the new action-crime-thriller that reunites Damon and Affleck together on screen, the pair playing Miami cops who find a hidden collection of millions in cash. The only trouble is that it’s unclear who they can really trust, as even other cops may get funny ideas seeing that much money all in one place. See the full trailer for yourself below.

The Rip Trailer Brings Affleck and Damon Together Again After Years

Directed by Joe Carnahan (Smokin’ Aces, The Grey), The Rip marks the first time that Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have been together on screen in three years. The previous movie that starred both characters was 2023’s Air, the bio-drama about the real-life figures that forged the partnership between Nike and Michael Jordan (Damon starred as marketing exec Sonny Vaccaro, while Affleck appeared as Nike CEO Phil Knight). Though a well-received movie, it was largely an ensemble piece that had only sporadic interaction between Affleck and Damon. To see the two really sharing the screen and going toe-to-toe as actors, we have to go back five years to Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel.

In any event, The Rip is primed to give fans what they’ve been hankering for: more of their two favorites together again. What’s interesting is that this marks the third on-screen pairing of Affleck and Damon this decade. Does it paint a picture of what fans can expect for the rest of the 2020s? Perhaps not, but it marks the most movies they’ve starred in together in this amount of time since the 1990s.

It’s worth noting that The Rip also has a murderer’s row of actors flanking Affleck and Damon including Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another), Steven Yeun (Minari, The Walking Dead), Scott Adkins (John Wick: Chapter 4, Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning), Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights), Catalina Sandino Moreno (From, The Bridge), Nestor Carbonell (Lost, The Dark Knight), and Sasha Calle (Supergirl in The Flash). Will The Rip become the first great surprise movie of 2026? We’ll find out in less than two weeks as it premieres on Netflix next Friday, January 16th.