Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have been friends since they were in elementary school, and now they’re bringing that friendship to Netflix. The duo are reteaming for new crime thriller The Rip, from writer-director Joe Carnahan (Narc, Smokin’ Aces). Also coming along for the ride are Steven Yeun, Kyle Chandler, Teyana Taylor, Catalina Sandino Moreno, and Sasha Calle; the film will be produced by Artists Equity, the artist-led studio that Damon and Affleck founded in 2022.
“Working with Matt and Ben and having two, distinctly talented filmmakers, as both creative allies and the studio heads, wound up being the best of both worlds,” Carnahan tells Tudum. “I’ve never had as easy an experience on a movie as I had on The Rip. They took exceptionally good care of me and backed my decisions every step of the way.”
Damon and Affleck met as neighbors in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and quickly became close pals; as Damon recalled to Conan O’Brien in 2019, the future Batman came to his rescue in a schoolyard fight. “I remember that was like a big moment,” Damon said. “He will put himself in a really bad spot. This is a good friend.”
Soon, of course, Damon and Affleck wound up in much better spots together, winning an Oscar for co-writing Good Will Hunting and then heading on parallel trajectories to stardom. The pair may seem inseparable, but they’ve played lead roles alongside each other in only a handful of films: Good Will Hunting and Dogma in the ’90s, and more recently The Last Duel and Air. They’ve come a long way since their first appearance in a film together — as Mattfleck legend has it, they were uncredited extras in Field of Dreams.
What is The Rip about?
Upon discovering millions in cash in a derelict stash house, trust among a team of Miami cops begins to fray. As outside forces learn about the size of the seizure, everything is called into question — including who they can rely on.
“The Rip came out of a deeply personal experience that my friend went through, both as a father and as head of tactical narcotics for the Miami Dade police department,” Carnahan explains. “It’s inspired in part by his life and then, by my enduring love for those classic ‘70’s cop thrillers that really valued the character and interpersonal relationships and became touchstones of that era — films like Serpico and Prince of The City and more recently, Michael Mann’s Heat.”
What does “The Rip” mean?
“The title for The Rip is simply Miami cop parlance for ‘taking the bad guy’s stuff,’ which is known as ‘ripping’ it,” Carnahan says. “In the event of a seizure of cash or drugs or weapons, the confiscation itself is known as the ‘rip.’”
Who’s in the cast of The Rip?
The cast of The Rip includes:
Matt Damon (Stillwater, The Bourne Identity)
Ben Affleck (Gone Girl, Triple Frontier)
Steven Yeun (Beef, The Walking Dead)
Teyana Taylor (A Thousand and One, The Book of Clarence)
Catalina Sandino Moreno (Silent Night, Maria Full of Grace)
Sasha Calle (The Flash, The Young and the Restless)
Néstor Carbonell (Shōgun, The Morning Show)
Lina Esco (S.W.A.T)
Scott Adkins (John Wick 4, Day Shift)
Kyle Chandler (Back in Action, Friday Night Lights)
Can I see a photo from The Rip?
Yes! Catch a glimpse of Affleck and Damon in character at the top of this article.
When will The Rip be on Netflix?
The Rip is coming to Netflix in 2025.
Source: Tudum