The two would work together again for their breakout hit ‘Good Will Hunting‘, which earned them an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and jump started their movie star careers.
Both actors went on to have huge careers, and while Damon would co-write ‘Promised Land‘ with John Krasinski, and Affleck would direct such films as ‘The Town‘ and ‘Argo‘, the two friends would not work together again until 2021’s ‘The Last Duel‘.
They would go on to also star in ‘Air‘, which Affleck directed and their latest film together, ‘The Rip‘, premieres on Netflix January 16th.
In honor of ‘The Rip’, Moviefone is ranking every film Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have ever made together.
(L to R) Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, and Ben Affleck in ‘Jay and Silent Bob Reboot’. Photo: Saban Films.
When Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) learn that their comic-book alter egos, Bluntman and Chronic, have been sold to Hollywood as part of a big-screen movie that leaves them out of any royalties, the pair travels to Tinseltown to sabotage the production.
(L to R) Matt Damon and Adam Driver in ‘The Last Duel’. Photo: 20th Century Studios.
King Charles VI (Alex Lawther) declares that Knight Jean de Carrouges (Damon) settle his dispute with his squire, Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver), by challenging him to a duel.
(L to R) Cole Hauser, Randall Batinkoff and Matt Damon in ‘School Ties’. Photo: Paramount Pictures.
When David Greene (Brendan Fraser) receives a football scholarship to a prestigious prep school in the 1950s, he feels pressure to hide the fact that he is Jewish from his classmates and teachers, fearing that they may be anti-Semitic. He quickly becomes the big man on campus thanks to his football skills, but when his Jewish background is discovered, his worst fears are realized and his friends turn on him with violent threats and public ridicule.
(L to R) Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in ‘Dogma.’ Photo: Triple Media Film.
An abortion clinic worker (Linda Fiorentino) with a special heritage is called upon to save the existence of humanity from being negated by two renegade angels (Affleck and Damon) trying to exploit a loophole and reenter Heaven.
The movie reveals the unbelievable game-changing partnership between a then-rookie Michael Jordan and Nike’s fledgling basketball division which revolutionized the world of sports and contemporary culture with the Air Jordan brand. This moving story follows the career-defining gamble of an unconventional team with everything on the line, the uncompromising vision of a mother who knows the worth of her son’s immense talent, and the basketball phenom who would become
(L to R) Robin Williams and Matt Damon in ‘Good Will Hunting’. Photo: Miramax Films.
Headstrong yet aimless, Will Hunting (Damon) has a genius-level IQ but chooses to work as a janitor at MIT. When he secretly solves highly difficult graduate-level math problems, his talents are discovered by Professor Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgård), who decides to help the misguided youth reach his potential. When Will is arrested for attacking a police officer, Professor Lambeau makes a deal to get leniency for him if he gets court-ordered therapy. Eventually, therapist Dr. Sean Maguire (Robin Williams) helps Will confront the demons that are holding him back.
On Netflix on January 16 is ‘The Rip’ a new police thriller that reunites Ben Affleck (‘Argo’) and Matt Damon (‘The Departed’) for the story of Miami law enforcement who stumble on a giant stash of drug cash, and the chaotic moral quandary that opens up between their team.
Following their successful reunion on ‘Air,’ Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have re-teamed on screen for this new cop thriller, handled by veteran director Joe Carnahan.
Looking to fit squarely into the gritty, brutal law enforcement genre, it lets them go full macho –– but has more going on than you might think at first glance.
Carnahan, who wrote the script based on a story by Michael McGrale, has here found a project so ideally in his wheelhouse he might as well have his name written across it.
The story crackles with acronym-heavy police action and plenty of testosterone, but it also finds time for nuance.
And though you might not guess the Miami setting beyond some opening shots (and dialogue drops) given that the scenes are mostly at night in a cul-de-sac, there is plenty of style on display here, particularly as things ramp up in the third act.
Affleck and Damon naturally work well off of each other, finding a dynamic that works as longtime cop friends whose connection is pushed to the limit here.
Around them, the likes of Teyana Taylor (even if she doesn’t get nearly as much to do as in ‘One Battle After Another’), Steven Yeun and Kyle Chandler contribute superb moments.
‘The Rip’ won’t be to everyone’s taste, but if you enjoy your thrillers hard-edged and unexpectedly crafted, it’s certainly got something. And we don’t just mean an unexpected haul of drug money.
A group of Miami cops discovers a stash of millions in cash, leading to distrust as outsiders learn about the huge seizure, making them question who to rely on.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with writer and director Joe Carnahan about his work on ‘The Rip’, bringing the project to Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, working with them on set, their characters’ relationship, the supporting cast, building suspense for the twists and turns, the action sequences, working with Netflix, and why he’s not disappointed that the movie isn’t going to be shown in theaters.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Carnahan, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Catalina Sandino Moreno, and Sasha Calle.
Moviefone: To begin with, I understand that you brought this project yourself to Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s company, Artists Equity. Can you talk about that? Also, at a Netflix event last year Affleck told a story about you pitching this project to him as ‘Heat’ meets ‘Training Day’ and his response was, “Kind of like ‘The Town’?” Did that really happen?
Joe Carnahan: That is inaccurate. I don’t know where he got that. No, you know what it was? Matt and Ben and I are all the same age. So, all the films that we loved as kids, ‘Serpico’ and ‘Heat’ and you know, ‘Lethal Weapon’. Like, these types of movies, and I think we wanted to make something like that that was kind of crowd pleasing and in the cop genre, which I love and have had some success with. Someone at Actors Equity got a hold of the script. I had not gone out wide with it. Matt and Ben and I have been friends for many years. The AE executive said, “Let me get it to them”. It got to Matt within 24 hours, and he called me 24 hours later, and then Ben called me. They were like, “What are you thinking for the cast?” I’m like, “What do you mean? Come on, I want you guys.” So, it was just a dream to have guys that were running the studio that could put the wheels in motion here. At the same time, these two are movie stars. They are two guys that grew up together that happened to be movie stars. It doesn’t happen like that. So, it was a joy from start to finish. It really was.
MF: Obviously, Affleck is an accomplished director in his own right, and he and Damon are also Oscar winning screenwriters. What was it like having two veteran actors and experienced filmmakers on your set and working with them to create this movie?
JC: I know. Having them say my lines, these guys who have little gold statues for their writing. It was incredible. Again, they’re both wonderful filmmakers. They understand it. They see it from a 30,000-foot vantage, right? They get what you’re up against. They get what the challenges are, and they get what the obstacles would be. So, I found them to be nothing but lovely and helpful. Especially Ben, who’s coming out of a directorial background. He’s walked the same roads I’ve walked. He’s put in those hours behind a camera. He understands. He’s a world-class filmmaker. He really is. So, to have that level of competency, I could be a fool and still get to the finish line. But they gave me this wonderful grace and room to try things and they were game for stuff. We had a blast, man. We really did.
MF: Can you talk about how their long friendship together and how that really plays into these characters, and was there ever any talk of them flipping roles? Because they both could have easily played the other part.
JC: You know what they asked me, “Who do you want us to play?” I always had in mind that Matt would play Dumars. That is the slightly senior guy. But they absolutely could have gone the other way, which is an interesting role reversal. I’m sure AI will be capable of flipping Matt and Ben’s roles next month. But again, I’m trading on a 40-year plus friendship. The sense of that and the gravitational pull of that is something you could feel when you’re watching them. You know what I mean? You can’t say that about everybody. Not only do they have natural chemistry, but these are two people who love each other. Then once you get in there, now you’re messing with not only that personal history, but you’re messing with who they are as movie stars. You’re messing with their cinematic presence, which is very different. But it was the moving between one and the other, and then sometimes coexisting at the same time, which was fantastic. Again, I think that’s what gives all their scenes this real authentic sense because they do care deeply for each other. Then there are moments where you feel like one of them is betraying the other one, and that lands with that much more presence and weight. So, that was great.
MF: Without giving anything away, the film keeps you guessing the whole time as to who the good guys are and who are the bad guys. Can you talk about creating that suspense and building to the twists and turns?
JC: Yeah, it was a lot of Mike McGrale and I really sitting down and structuring this in the outline stage, which can be tedious and time consuming. But ultimately, it’ll give you the greatest dividends because you’ve really leaned into the technical aspects of screenwriting, which can be tricky. But I think once we did that groundwork, and once the script was done, I wrote it fast. It was like five weeks to write the script. But all of this was rigorously thought out and planned and machined in that outline stage. Then once you knew that it’s like a Rube Goldberg device, like this trip trips that and drops some mouse traps. So, it’s a lot of fun because once you know it’s working on the page, then it just becomes execution on the day. I always say this, it’s like there’s three films. There’s a film you write. There’s a film you shoot and there’s a film you cut, and oftentimes they’re wildly different. This was consistent throughout, I think if anything, it got leaner. We cut down information as we went on because we felt like we understand. I don’t want to pander to the audience. If I feel like we’re condescending, then let’s keep it moving.
MF: Can you talk about executing the action sequences?
JC: I had a second unit director, Scott Rogers, who I just adore, who’s talented and did a lot of work with me and the DP and are a really great group of guys who understood. It’s like, “Here are the boards, here’s what we want, here’s the shots we want, and then anything after that you get, knock yourself out.” Of course, they always give you fantastic stuff on top of that. So, it was a lot of planning. We use this Libra Head, which is this expensive stabilized head for our shots. If we shot sticks or handheld, we’d use the Libra Head. To do that kind percussive seismic thing when the gunfight starts to make you feel like, “Oh, my God.” I wanted to just feel it in your chest. We would destabilize those things. We did what’s called seizure wheels. We just did these kinds of wild shots, but it created this unsettling effect. That’s always what you’re trying to do. You don’t want to feel like you’re treading over the same ground repeatedly and the familiar. You want to mess with it and see what you can do. I think we did some interesting kind of innovative things in that and the action.
MF: We’ve talked about Ben and Matt, but can you talk about putting together the rest of the supporting cast including Teyana Taylor, Steven Yeun, Kyle Chandler, and Scott Adkins?
JC:Sharon Bialy and Sherry Thomas cast us, and they just did a phenomenal job. I think casting is sometimes 90% of your work. Like, who do you put in this movie? Everyone from Catalina Sandino Moreno to Steve, to Scott, to Néstor Carbonell, who I’ve worked with before. I have a history with a lot of these people. Again, you just get these people working at such a high level. Scott Atkins, who’s not seen the film yet, he will see it tonight. I think he’s just going to be blown away because I didn’t require him to blade kick anyone in the head, which is kind of his stock and trade. So, it’s exciting. When you, when you have this collection of talented people and you get good material, it’s hard to screw that up. You’ve got to work extra hard to screw that up.
MF: Finally, what was your experience like working with Netflix and are you disappointed that the film will not have a theatrical release?
JC: You know what? No, because I think what’s happened is, you know, we used to live and die by Friday night and the weekend box office. It’s like, “My movie didn’t work, and it is dead in the water.” I like that we’ve eliminated that undue tension of, “what if I’m not number one?”. I never liked the box office stakes. Unless you win, then you’re happy. But I think that so many homes now have mini theaters. They have very sophisticated televisions that aren’t that expensive. They have very sophisticated sound systems that aren’t that expensive. I know in my house; I’ve got this great room that is all blacked out with bean bags, and that’s where you watch movies. That movie in that room would play just as well as anything else. Like, that communal experience of being in a dark room with strangers and sharing something, that’s never going away. I certainly love it. I don’t ever want theaters to go, and we’re going to see it tonight in theater. So, we get the best of both worlds. I do think it’s strong, but it’s strong regardless. Netflix has been a dream. Honest to God, I can’t say enough good things about those guys. From the marketing to the publicity, they have been top of the top, and just amazing.
A group of Miami cops discovers a stash of millions in cash, leading to distrust as outsiders learn about the huge seizure, making them question who to rely on.
Scott Adkins as “Kris Chaney” in the action film ‘DIablo’, a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Scott Adkins about his work on ‘Diablo’, creating the story with Marko Zaror, his role as a producer on the project, the short shooting schedule, his character, working with actress Alana De La Rossa, executing the action sequences, what he learned from working on ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’, why he’s happy the Oscars will soon offer a stunt award, and what it was like working with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon on next year’s ‘The RIP’.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video above to watch our interview.
Scott Adkins as “Kris Chaney” in the action film ‘DIablo’, a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.
Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about how this project came together and your roles as an actor, co-writer and producer on the film?
Scott Adkins: I was working on ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ with Marko Zaror. We spent a lot of time together because we’re good friends anyway and we started talking about a potential movie that we could star in together. We came up with this idea and then we got Ernesto (Díaz Espinoza) involved, who’s the director, and he does a lot of films with Marko in Chile. So, the three of us came up with a story and then we brought in Matt Samson and developed the story some more and got him to write it. My manager, Craig Baumgarten, also produces movies. So, we took it to him. He took it to some people like Clay Epstein, and we found a place to shoot it in Colombia because we wanted it to be in South America. Originally, we were thinking Chile. So, we ended up in Colombia shooting it with a great production team. We got a lot of support and had a fantastic stunt team behind us that really wanted to work with me and Marko because they’re not used to doing as much fight-based stuff. But we got some great stunts in there like car hits and high falls and all the rest of it. They were fantastic. We ended up with an amazing actress, Alana (De La Rossa), who’s Colombian, and she’s the heart of the movie. It’s a great cast. We didn’t have a lot of time to shoot it, but we’re very happy with the result.
MF: Is being a producer on projects you appear in something you want to pursue moving forward?
SA: Honestly, it’s a massive headache that I could do without. I’m a creative producer. I like to create my projects. But when it comes to dealing with the banks, the finance and the day in day out of dealing with all of that … Ignorance is bliss. I’d rather not know what’s going on behind the scenes because sometimes it’s stressful. So really, I’m a creative producer. But it’s nice to be in a position where if there is a problem and something needs to be addressed, I can pull the producer card out and go, “Hang on a second.”
Scott Adkins as “Kris Chaney” in the action film ‘DIablo’, a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.
MF: How would you describe your character Kris Chaney, and did he change from development to production?
SA: Well, honestly, as simple as it sounds, me and Marko were just riffing on an idea of ‘No Country for Old Men’ and how we could do our version, where I’m like Josh Brolin and he’s Javier Bardem. You can see that now. You see the movie and you’d understand where I’m coming from. We just wanted a chase movie where I’m pursuing him, he’s pursuing me, and what is it? Is it a bag of money? We ended up coming up with the idea for it to be the girl, and everything came from there. As far as my character goes, he is a bit of a blank page, and you learn about my character through the eyes of Elisa. The audience learns about me the way that the story goes, as she does. So, the film’s very much from her perspective. That’s where we went with it. I think the film’s got a lot of heart and really, we were very lucky to get Alana to play the part. Without her being such an amazing actress, it would not be what it is.
MF: Did you have time to rehearse with actress Alana De La Rossa or did you have to dive right in due to a short production schedule?
SA: Well, this is it. She doesn’t know me, so we didn’t need a bond. But we did get some rehearsal time and she quickly proved that she was the best actor in the room. So, I was like, “Okay. Just do that.” But there’s not a lot of backstories because to do that, the way the story is, it would be too expositional. We just got to talk about it and it’s just a lot of talking. It’s more about who these characters are and how they relate to one another on the journey that they’re on. We discussed having some flashbacks to flesh out the backstory, but we just felt it didn’t need it. These characters, that’s who they are. This is the situation they’re in, and this is the journey they’re going on.
(L to R) Alanna De La Rossa as “Elisa” and Scott Adkins as “Kris Chaney” in the action film ‘Diablo’, a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.
MF: Does having a compressed shooting schedule give you a feeling of urgency on the set, and does that translate onto the screen in the action sequences?
SA: You can’t second-guess yourself. If you decide something, you’ve got to go with it because there’s no time to do anything different. You’ve got to hopefully turn up with a tight script that’s ready to shoot if you start making a lot of changes. You always do, but you don’t want to make too many. As far as the action goes, it must be structured. There’s no room for rehearsal, there’s no room for improvisation. Marko designed the action, and it’s pre-vised in a gym. It’s pre-vised in a gym when we’ve got time and we’re not spending as much money to do it. Then we get to the location and then time is money. So, you’ve just got to shoot those pieces, and you want to stick to the structure of what that is, really.
MF: Can you talk about coordinating and shooting the action sequences with Marko Zaror?
SA: We wanted it to be gritty and realistic, to a degree. We want to put a bit of flash in there sometimes, but we didn’t want people flying around on wires or doing somersaults because it would take away from the tone of the movie. It’s important to know what the tone of the film is and stick to it with the action. So, the camera work fits in with that. It’s got a high shutter frame rate and gives it that gritty ‘Saving Private Ryan’ feel. It’s important to us to just let the camera show the action and not just turn into an edited mess. We’re quite good at that. We know what we’re doing. The one thing we don’t have and that we need is time, especially with the action sequences, because it just takes time to get the various angles. You can always do better, but it’s knowing on a budget like this, that, “Okay, that’s the best we’re going to get. Can we live with it? Okay, let’s move on.” Because we want quality action, but we also want a lot of it. When you’ve only got 22 days to shoot the movie, you can’t have everything the way you want it. But me and Marko are obviously very used to doing that sort of stuff.
(L to R) Scott Adkins as “Kris Chaney” and Marko Zaror as “El Corvo” in the action film ‘Diablo’, a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.
MF: Can you talk about how action sequences and fight scenes have changed since the ‘John Wick’ series, and having worked on that franchise yourself, do you feel pressure to enhance the action and fight scenes that you are involved with?
SA: Yeah, it’s got better and better. Hollywood’s got better at making actors without martial arts experience look like they have martial arts experience. So, you can’t get away with just being a badass and not really being able to act anymore because that can make Brad Pitt look like a badass these days. Fight-wise, it’s hard not to copy people. When somebody comes along like Gareth Evans and creates a new style, you want to lean into that, ‘John Wick’ comes along with that style, and you want to lean in. It is hard to reinvent the wheel, but sometimes guys do it. Then when it does happen, it’s hard not to copy them because anything less looks dated. I’m really impressed when people find a new style, which I can’t say that I’ve come across yet. It’d be interesting to see what the new style is, whatever that will be.
MF: As someone who works closely with the stunt team, how do you feel about the recent news that the Academy Awards are introducing a stunt category in the future?
SA: It’s about damn time. These guys put their lives on the line. Obviously, they try to be as safe as possible. But nobody ever died sewing a costume as far as I’m aware. So, I think it’s high time that it happened. I’ll be interested to see how they structure it, because there’s so many different facets of stunt work. I think maybe that’s why it hasn’t happened for a bit. But yeah, I’m looking forward to it and these guys, they deserve it.
MF: Finally, you also have ‘The RIP’ coming out next year with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. What was it like working with them and making that movie?
SA: Wow, what a thrill. Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, incredible actors. Extremely smart guys. I played Ben’s brother in the movie. Joe Carnahan‘s the director. He wrote an incredible script. I don’t want to say too much about it, but it’s just a thrill to be working with the caliber of talent that I was able to work with. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product.
Editorial Note: Don Kaye conducted this interview and contributed to this article.
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What is the plot of ‘Diablo’?
After his release from prison, one man makes it his mission to right a terrible wrong by revealing a secret that could end his life. Scott Adkins stars as Kris Chaney, a warrior who seizes the daughter of a Colombian gangster to fulfill a noble promise to the young girl’s mother. When her father enlists both the criminal underworld and the terrifying psychotic killer El Corvo (Marko Zaror) to exact his revenge, Kris will need to draw upon everything he has ever learned — in and out of lockup — to stay alive and keep his word.
Director Kevin Smith talks ‘Dogma’ 25th Anniversary rerelease.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Kevin Smith about reclaiming ‘Dogma’ from the hands of the Weinstein brothers (the film has been unavailable for theatrical or streaming release for two decades), how he’s changed as a filmmaker and the reaction to the once-controversial movie this time around.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews.
(Lto R) Salma Hayek Pinault, Alan Rickman and Chris Rock in ‘Dogma.’ Photo: Triple Media Film.
Moviefone: To begin with, what does getting ‘Dogma’ back mean to you?
Kevin Smith: It comes at the right time in my career because right about now people are like, “No, he sucks.” So it’s nice to be able to bring out an old movie where it’s, “Well, he didn’t suck then, there was hope!” Generally when I bring out a new movie it’s like I’ve got to convince people, “No, really I should still be doing this,” and they’re, “you should have stopped a long f****n’ time ago!” Coming out with this old movie that they liked back in the day and still like today is like going out there with a shield.
(L to R) Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in ‘Dogma.’ Photo: Triple Media Film.
MF: How do you view it now through the lens of who you are today?
KS: We’ve been touring it for 20 cities, then we just also played at Cannes. Every night I’ve been watching the movie and interacting with a vision of a young Kevin Smith. The kid who made that movie, believed in everything that’s up there. He’s not talking about Christian mythology, he’s not raising a hairy eyebrow or coming out with sharp teeth and claws the way Monty Python would on ‘Life of Brian.’ He believes in everything, so it’s been charming to sit back and watch the movie and be, “Aw, young Kevin Smith is so adorable.” I don’t have those same beliefs anymore so it’s like we say in the movie, beliefs are tricky to get around because once you have a belief you’re mired in it, but it’s more important to have good ideas, and now I think I have good ideas.
(L to R) Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith and Matt Damon in ‘Dogma.’ Photo: Triple Media Film.
MF:‘Dogma’ was protested upon its release. Do you think the reactions would be the same today?
KS: What an interesting question. I think if we would have done it for the first time now and it was a streaming series I don’t think people would bump into it that hard. I mean, look, last year ‘Heretic’ came out and granted it went through the prism of the Latter-Day Saints, the Church of Mormon, and the Book of Mormon, so it wasn’t as big a polemic perhaps in the Mormon community. But that was a movie where watching it, I was leaning forward going, “Oh, a kindred spirit, of sorts.” The movie came and was respected and nobody got in trouble or nearly got killed.
Alan Rickman in ‘Dogma.’ Photo: Triple Media Film.
MF: Have you seen any protests at all this time around?
KS: I’ve only seen one or two protests, one of which was as I was driving into the AMC movie theater in Dallas where we were doing our screenings. So I’m going to pull into the mall and I’m at the light. I look over at the median and there’s a kid, 18, 19 years old and he’s holding a placard, like big white cardboard, has the current ‘Dogma’ poster in the middle of it and it says, “AMC blasphemes” or something like that. So I was, “Oh my God, how adorable.” So I laid on the horn, give support and the kid is so excited and he looks around and he sees me, and then he sees who I am and he looks away. He f****n’ shunned me! So that’s as bad as the protest has been this time around. I’ll take that, that’s fine.
(L to R) Linda Fiorentino, Jason Mewes, Salma Hayek and Chris Rock in ‘Dogma.’ Photo: Triple Media Film.
MF: Finally, how else has the rerelease reaction been different compared to the original release?
KS: Last time the protests were loud and vicious because people hadn’t seen the movie so the people who were making hay over it did so without anyone seeing what the movie is. Once people saw the movie, they’re, “this doesn’t go after the faith, this movie’s so reverent it’s crazy.” I now know years later, people may have heard about, “oh, you guys went through it.” But I’m seeing current reviews, people going, “can you believe that this movie took s**t back in the day and almost got people killed?” It seems to have aged better and plays way better now although, oddly enough, it feels like there’s less freedom in 2025, religious or otherwise, than there was in 1999.
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What is the plot of ‘Dogma’?
An abortion clinic worker with a special heritage is called upon to save the existence of humanity from being negated by two renegade angels trying to exploit a loophole and re-enter Heaven.
Who is in the cast of ‘Dogma’?
Ben Affleck as Bartleby
Matt Damon as Loki
Linda Fiorentino as Bethany
Alan Rickman as Metatron
Jason Lee as Azrael
George Carlin as Cardinal Glick
Salma Hayek Pinault as Serendipity
Chris Rock as Rufus
Jason Mewes as Jay
Kevin Smith as Silent Bob
Alanis Morissette as God
(L to R) Chris Rock, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes and Linda Fiorentino in ‘Dogma’. Photo: Lionsgate Films.
Fans attend Netflix TUDUM 2025: The Live Event at The Kia Forum on May 31, 2025 in Inglewood, California. Photo: Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Netflix.
Preview:
Netflix TUDUM 2025: The Live Event took place on Saturday, May 30th at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles.
Netflix debuted new footage and trailers for TV shows like ‘Squid Game’, ‘Stranger Things’ and ‘Wednesday’.
They also showed footage and trailers from upcoming movies like ‘Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery’, ‘Frankenstein’, ‘The RIP’ and ‘Happy Gilmore 2’.
Lady Gaga brought down the house with an incredible live performance.
Netflix TUDUM 2025: The Live Event took place on Saturday, May 30th at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles and was aired live on the streaming network at the same time.
The event featured the debut of new footage and trailers from popular TV shows like ‘Squid Game’ season 3, ‘Stranger Things’ season 5 and ‘Wednesday’ season 2, as well as a casting announcement for a fan favorite character joining ‘One Piece’.
Fans attend Netflix TUDUM 2025: The Live Event at The Kia Forum on May 31, 2025 in Inglewood, California. Photo: Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Netflix.
(L to R) Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byung-hun, Park Sung-hoon, Kang Ae-shim, and Choi Seung-hyun speak onstage during Netflix TUDUM 2025: The Live Event at The Kia Forum on May 31, 2025 in Inglewood, California. Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Netflix.
Hosted by Sofia Carson, the show began with Pink Guards from ‘Squid Game’ taking the stage during a performance by Hanumankind.
Hanumankind performs onstage during Netflix TUDUM 2025: The Live Event at The Kia Forum on May 31, 2025 in Inglewood, California. Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Netflix.
After the performance, Lee Jung-Jae and Lee Byung-hun, who play Player 456 and Front Man, respectively, arrived to present the season 3 trailer for ‘Squid Game’. They were joined on stage by fellow cast members Park Hae-soo and Kang Ae-shim.
Lee Byung-hun teased the new season as he introduced the trailer:
“I will try not to spoil anything, but we can tell you a few things. Gi-hun vows to put an end to the game, while the Front Man makes his next big move.”
Lee Jung-Jae added:
“But every game must end … and ‘Squid Game will shock the world one last time. We know you are all counting down the moment.”
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‘Squid Game’ season 3 premieres on Netflix June 27th.
(L to R) Jeremy Renner, Josh Brolin, Cailee Spaeny, Mila Kunis, Rian Johnson, Daniel Craig, Kerry Washington and Daryl McCormack speak onstage during Netflix TUDUM 2025: The Live Event at The Kia Forum on May 31, 2025 in Inglewood, California. Photo: Amy Sussman/Getty Images for Netflix.
Director Rian Johnson appeared to tease the third of his ‘Knives Out’ series of mysteries and walked on to the stage accompanied by a “Who done it” type mystery theme.
“I love a good surprise. This is the third Benoit Blanc movie that we’ve made and one thing that we strove to do with each one of them is to keep the audience guessing. It’s important for us to figure out new ways every time so just when you think you have it figured out, a new twist comes a long that you were not expecting. That’s what makes these movies special.”
Then, each member of the cast including Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, Kerry Washington and Jeremy Renner, came out one by one to one-up the previous co-star. Washington appeared with a T-shirt gun to entice the crowd, but not to be outdone, Renner then appeared with two T-shirt guns and received an extremely warn welcome from the fans.
(Left) Kerry Washington speaks onstage during Netflix TUDUM 2025: The Live Event at The Kia Forum on May 31, 2025 in Inglewood, California. Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Netflix. (Right) Jeremy Renner speaks onstage during Netflix TUDUM 2025: The Live Event at The Kia Forum on May 31, 2025 in Inglewood, California. Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Netflix.
Eight-time Oscar nominee Glenn Close sent a video from her car, and the actress dropped the F-word twice with her dog in the backseat. Finally, Daniel Craig made a surprise appearance and had this to say about the film.
“I have a bit of news to share with you all. We have an exclusive sneak peak of the movie. Would anybody like to see it?”
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With that, the teaser trailer for the new movie debut, which will premiere on Netflix December 12th.
(L to R) Jacob Romero, Mackenyu, IÒaki Godoy, Emily Rudd, and Taz Skylar speak onstage during Netflix TUDUM 2025: The Live Event at The Kia Forum on May 31, 2025 in Inglewood, California. Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Netflix.
The cast of the popular series ‘One Piece’ including Iñaki Godoy, Mackenyu, Emily Rudd, Jacob Gibson, and Taz Skylar appeared on stage to greet the fans. Based on the popular manga series, the first season has been watched by over a hundred million fans around the world.
Iñaki Godoy has this to say about the upcoming season.
“We just wrapped shooting season 2 in South Africa and let me tell you, things are only going to get bigger and better. We’re talking bigger worlds, bigger pirates, bigger adversaries, bigger food, bigger adventures, and bigger giants.”
Mikaela Hoover will voice Chopper in season 2 of ‘One Piece’. Photo: John Schnell/Netflix.
The cast also announced the addition of fan-favorite character Tony Tony Chopper, who will be voiced by actress Mikaela Hoover, and introduced first look footage of the character.
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The second season of ‘One Piece’ is set to premiere on Netflix in 2026.
(L to R) Ben Affleck and Matt Damon speak onstage during Netflix TUDUM 2025: The Live Event at The Kia Forum on May 31, 2025 in Inglewood, California. Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images for Netflix.
The presentation for director Joe Carnahan’s new police thriller ‘The Rip’, which stars Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, began with a pre-recorded video of the two actors as their cop characters arresting ‘Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster for eating too many cookies.
(L to R) Cookie Monster, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon attend Netflix TUDUM 2025: The Live Event at The Kia Forum in Los Angeles on May 31, 2025. Photo: Adam Rose for Netflix.
“It’s great to be back together again on screen and we loved making this movie. It channels some of our all-time favorites like ‘Heat’ and ‘Training Day’.
In the film, Affleck and Damon play Miami cops who discover over 20 million dollars in cash hidden in a suspect’s house, which leads to distrust among their characters and the other police officers.
A new trailer for the film was shown to the audience at the Forum and during the broadcast but is not currently available online. Damon introduced the teaser trailer by saying:
“Netflix was not going to let us show you an exclusive first look at the film. In fact, the studio hasn’t even approved its release, so here is the first and I repeat only look at ‘The Rip’ coming to Netflix on January 16th, 2026.”
(L to R) Oscar Isaac, Guillermo del Toro, and Mia Goth speak onstage Netflix TUDUM 2025: The Live Event at The Kia Forum on May 31, 2025 in Inglewood, California. Photo: Amy Sussman/Getty Images for Netflix.
Next up was visionary director Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ presentation, which began with a video message from actor Jacob Elordi who plays the monster.
“I recently had the great pleasure of playing the creature in Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’. Guillermo is a real-life genius and I’m immensely grateful to be in the film. I’m proud of the work we all put into it.”
Guillermo del Toro himself, as well as actors Oscar Isaac and Mia Goth then took the stage to greet the fans and introduce the teaser trailer for the film.
“Thank you. I’m Guillermo del Toro. This is for me the culmination of a journey that has occupied most of my life. I first read Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ as a kid and saw Boris Karloff in what became for me an almost a religious state. Monsters have become my personal belief system. There are strands of Frankenstein throughout my films, ‘Cronos’, ‘Blade’, ‘Hellboy’, big time on ‘Pinocchio’, and a long, long, etc. Exploring the relationship between humanity and monsters, creator and creation, father and son, has consumed my stories again and again. I wanted to make this film even before I had a camera, and I have actively been pursuing it now for 25 years. It has grown so close to me that now it is my biography. Now, tonight here, finally, we can share it with you.”
(L to R) Adam Sandler, Julie Bowen, Christopher McDonald, and Rich Eisen speak onstage during Netflix TUDUM 2025: The Live Event at The Kia Forum on May 31, 2025 in Inglewood, California. Photo: Amy Sussman/Getty Images for Netflix.
The highly anticipated ‘Happy Gilmore 2’ was up next, and the presentation began with a mock video including sports broadcasters and athletes like Dan Patrick, Rich Eisen, Bob Costas, Serena Williams, Travis Kelce, and John Cena talking about the legacy of Happy Gilmore as if he was a real person and golfer.
The stage was then set up like a sports broadcast with Rich Eisen interviewing Christopher McDonald, Julie Bowen, and of course, Adam Sandler. Several supporting cast members including Jon Lovitz and an actor dressed as Abraham Lincoln were in the audience and asked clearly scripted questions.
After that, Sandler had this to say before introducing the final trailer for the sequel.
“First of all, Mr. Lincoln, great job on everything. Netflix, thanks for everything. How about today? This was fun. I’m hoping we have a lot of these. Now I have a question for all you nice people out there. Would anyone like to see the trailer for our new film?”
(L to R) Noah Schnapp, Caleb McLaughlin and Finn Wolfhard speak onstage during Netflix TUDUM 2025: The Live Event at The Kia Forum on May 31, 2025 in Inglewood, California. Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images for Netflix.
One of the most popular TV series in the history of Netflix is coming to an end with the fifth and final season of ‘Stranger Things’. Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin and Noah Schnapp appeared to discuss the experience of making the series and the upcoming final season.
They watched behind the scenes videos from the making of the first season and were joined by Gaten Matarazzo and Millie Bobby Brown via a prerecorded message.
Brown sad this to the audience:
“Hi TUDUM and ‘Stranger Things’ fans, its Millie Bobby Brown. Unfortunately, I can’t be there with you guys because I am filming ‘Enola Holmes 3’ right now in London. But I have so many memories. How could you possibly choose a favorite from four seasons?”
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The three actors on stage then introduced a teaser for season 5, and announced that Volume 1 will premiere on November 26th, with Volume to on Christmas day, and the finale on New Year’s Eve.
(L to R) Luis Guzm·n, Joanna Lumley, Fred Armisen, Isaac Ordonez and Jenna Ortega attend Netflix TUDUM 2025: The Live Event at The Kia Forum on May 31, 2025 in Inglewood, California. Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Netflix.
“Hello TUDUM. We are so thrilled to be here with you tonight, and by thrilled, I mean quietly bracing for what ever fresh horror Netflix has planned. Truly though I want to thank you for the amazing reception to season one and embracing our world. It really means the most. Here is an exclusive sneak peek at season 2.”
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The footage revealed that Haley Joel Osment will appear in the new season, and it was also officially announced that Grammy winner and Oscar nominee Lady Gaga will have a guest starring role in season 2,
‘Wednesday’ season 2 is scheduled to be released in two parts on August 6th, and September 3rd.
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The big event ended with a three-song performance from Lady Gaga which included ‘Zombieboy’, ‘Abracadabra,’ and “Bloody Mary.’
Lady Gaga Is performing at Netflix Tudum 2025: The Live Event. Photo: Frank Lebon/Netflix.
List of Movies and TV Shows Presented at Netflix TUDUM 2025: The Big Event:
(L to R) Daniella Pineda and Cynthia Addai-Robinson star in ‘The Accountant 2’.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Cynthia Addai-Robinson and Daniella Pineda about their work on ‘The Accountant 2’, Addai-Robinson’s reaction to the screenplay, how her character has changed since the first film, if she knew there would be a sequel when she shot the original, working opposite Affleck and Bernthal this time around, and if she’s ready for ‘The Accountant 3’, while Pineda discussed joining the franchise, her love for the original, shooting her fight scenes, acting opposite Oscar winner J.K. Simmons, and working with director Gavin O’Connor.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Addai-Robinson and Pineda, as well as Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal and director Gavin O’Connor.
Cynthia Addai-Robinson attends the Amazon MGM Studios ‘The Accountant 2’ World Premiere at SXSW on Saturday March 8, 2025 in Austin, Texas.
Moviefone: To begin with, Cynthia, Ben Affleck has said that he thinks your character is the real protagonist of this film and that he is more like a “character actor”. Do you agree with that and what was your first reaction to the sequel taking that approach?
Cynthia Addai-Robinson: It’s interesting, if you think about the character of Marybeth Medina, I feel like she’s very much the audience’s eyes and ears in this story. You’re following along with her as she must essentially solve this puzzle, solve this mystery that really in his final moments, she’s enlisted again by J.K. Simmons, his character Ray King. I think even for Ray King, he understands that “There are two people I can entrust that I think are going to be able to figure this out. Marybeth is one of them, and of course the accountant is the other.” Really her recruiting and pulling him in to help, it’s very much initially a reluctant partnership. Then once he brings his brother Brax along, Jon Bernthal, it’s like, “Now I’m having to navigate this with these two people that I don’t really know what to expect once I bring them on.” It is true that she essentially is the through line and you’re following her journey as she tries to understand the particulars of this case.
MF: Daniella, what was it like for you to join this franchise and work with this cast?
Daniella Pineda: I think the coolest part about it was if you get to sign onto a project that you yourself sought out as a fan, I saw the first one in theaters in 2016 and I loved it, and I was like, “Oh man, I hope they would come out with a second one.” That was weird to be a fan of something and then you’re like, “I’m going to be in it. This is awesome.” They left it largely a mystery once I was cast. I was not aware that the film centered around this character. I just thought it was more of a supporting role and you’re in and out. I was so surprised when I read how much she’s a part of the story.
Daniella Pineda attends the Amazon MGM Studios ‘The Accountant 2’ World Premiere at SXSW on Saturday March 8, 2025 in Austin, Texas.
MF: Cynthia, did you have a sense making the first movie that a sequel was possible?
CAR: You’re always hopeful. I think certainly the intention from the creatives at the top was, “If this works, it would be great to continue telling this story.” I think when you’re an actor brought on board, unless you’re directly involved as say Ben obviously is a more hands-on with this, you’re just hoping and never assuming. Obviously, it took a lot longer I think than anybody would’ve ideally liked with eight years passing from when we finished the first movie to now bring this. But it always felt like there’s more story to tell. The way the first movie ends, you feel like you want to see what happens to these characters. Where do they go from here? What does life look like for them? We’ve taken the same time jump, eight years in real life and nine years in the story. It’s nice because we get to not only progress the characters, but tonally the movie is completely different from the first one. The first one’s an origin story. It’s a little bit more serious and grounded in tone. This one we just get to have fun with it and change up the genre a bit.
MF: Daniella, can you talk about shooting the fight sequences?
DP: We were lucky, Cynthia and I were both lucky in that most of our fight sequences happened at the end of production. We had the duration of the movie to build up and train for that. We took Muay Thai classes outside of rehearsal, which was interesting. Cynthia has a mean kick. It was a surprise to me. But I have a movie kick that’s pretty good. It was trying and it was exhausting at times, but I love the way it turned out. Muay Thai was very different for me. I messed my foot up during a rehearsal toward the end, and I got so scared, like, “Oh my God, I broke my foot right before the fight.” But thankfully it worked out. I think it took us two days to shoot that fight sequence, two or three days, and it was so much fun.
MF: Cynthia, how has Medina changed since the first film?
CAR: She’s a grownup. I think there was in the first movie, both for Marybeth and for myself, a bit of a like, “Let me just keep my head down, do my job, don’t mess up, and don’t draw attention.” I think for Marybeth, there wasn’t necessarily a level of say, career ambition, it was just about doing a good job and serving justice. I think she’s very much led by her moral compass in putting away the bad guys, so to speak. Now here she is in a more elevated position, she’s deputy director and she’s essentially like the new Ray King. Again, J.K. Simmons character has passed the baton to her. That sense of this secret that she carries, which is she gets a leg up, she gets this information, she gets these tips, and would she have gotten there without it? Would she be able to get to that same position if she was just working hard? I love that there is that sense of a bit of imposter syndrome. You see her in the beginning of the movie literally sitting in the boss’s chair, and who she is in the beginning of the film and who she’s at the end I think there’s a beautiful arc and a real change, I think for her.
MF: Daniella, can you talk about your character’s relationship with Raymond King and what it was like working with J.K. Simmons?
DP: I was delighted to get a sit-down scene with Oscar winner J.K. Simmons. This is not a shocker. He is a very, very, very good actor. I am of the belief that I think that other actors make you a better actor, not necessarily directors. When it comes time to who you’re looking at and performing and bringing it, he’s one of those actors that like, “I really have to come correct today.” We meet them in a mysterious way. We don’t know why he’s so deeply intrigued by her or why he’s calling her out or how he even got a hold of her. But he seems so desperate to speak to her like he’s been fishing, and he finally has the catch. It’s a little bit under mysterious circumstances and sad ones, unfortunately for J.K.
MF: Cynthia, you didn’t have any scenes with Ben or Jon in the first movie, what was it like getting to act opposite them this time around?
CAR: It was like this lovely meeting of the minds both for the reality of, “Great, I get to work with these actors that I have not worked with before, even though we were in the same movie.” For those characters and seeing, “What exactly is going to happen? What happens when you put these three very different characters who are all very strong in their individuality and in their way of doing things and their perception of things, what happens?” I think what I love about this movie, and I’ve been hearing from a lot of people is there’s so much comedy to be mined from that uncomfortable situation. Uncomfortable for the characters, not uncomfortable for me or for us, but again, there is that sense of, “These characters are all circling each other, trying to make heads or tails of things.” For Marybeth especially, it’s like, “These guys are dragging me down into the gutter. This is not my way of doing things.” We had a lot of fun with it. I think when you see on the page that there’s something humorous and funny without overplaying it, I think you want to play to the truth of the situation, but you know that there’s a chuckle to be had and you can keep it loose and you can try for things. Gavin O’Connor, our director, was great at allowing for that, creating that environment where it’s like Jon’s throwing out some improvised lines, and Ben’s reacting in real time. I’m just watching the ping pong match. We just had fun with it. I think that sense of fun and play translates to what the audience experiences. Again, there’s a lot of laughs to be had on this sequel.
MF: Daniella, what was it like working with director Gavin O’Connor?
DP: It takes a very talented director to be able to pull off what is being hailed as arguably a better sequel. The first movie is great, but the second one, a lot of people are saying, “The second one’s better.” That takes a very talented director to be able to pull that off. I think he established the world in the first film, and then he was able to, in a very skillful way, bring out the humor and all these goodies all along. But I feel like he’s always in front of the monitor and he’s like, “I don’t know. Do I believe this? Is this believable?” Everything must be believable and must convince him. As an actor, it was so lovely to be able to work with a director who put so much trust in me and I took some liberties. I asked for her to be blonde, and Gavin was like, “Yeah, sure, okay.” I thought he was really going to fight me on that. It’s so funny the things that he graced and the other things where he knew what he wanted, but it was a wonderful balance. I loved working with him.
MF: Finally, Cynthia, are you open to making ‘The Accountant 3’ if the opportunity comes your way?
CAR: Yes, I’m very open to that. We’re getting asked that all the time. I feel like I’ve heard Gavin say as much that a trilogy to really tell the story and with each version of the movie again, give a different experience for the audience, if the audience wants it, I think it’s very much there. When this movie ends, same thing, you’re like, “What happens to these characters? Where do they go from here after everything that happens, after everything unfolds, where do they go from here?” If you still want to know that, if you still care about the fate of these characters, then, I think a third one, let’s go. Let’s do it.
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What is the plot of ‘The Accountant 2’?
When someone close to her is killed by unknown assassins, Treasury Agent Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) is forced to contact Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) to solve the murder. With the help of his estranged but highly lethal brother Brax (Jon Bernthal), Chris applies his brilliant mind and less-than-legal methods to piece together the unsolved puzzle. As they get closer to the truth, the trio draw the attention of some of the most ruthless killers alive — all intent on putting a stop to their search.
(L to R) Allison Robertson, Ben Affleck, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Lynette Howell Taylor, Gavin O’Connor, Daniella Pineda and Jon Berthal attend the Amazon MGM Studios ‘The Accountant 2’ World Premiere at SXSW on Saturday March 8, 2025 in Austin, Texas.
2016’s ‘The Accountant’ was an offbeat thriller about an autistic man named Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck), whose brilliance with numbers has led him to become a forensic accountant for criminal organizations looking to find theft in their ranks, while he fronts as a legitimate public accountant and acts as an undercover mole for the U.S. Treasury. Featuring a strong central performance from Affleck, a terrific supporting cast, and a quirky blend of action, drama, and humor, ‘The Accountant’ scored well enough with audiences to put a sequel in motion.
Some nine years later, ‘The Accountant 2’ has arrived, with Affleck, co-stars Jon Bernthal and Cynthia Addai-Robinson, director Gavin O’Connor, and writer Bill Dubuque all returning. The results are a mixed bag, with the movie intermittently capturing some of the original’s charm by building on the chemistry between Affleck and, as his brother, Bernthal.
But a ridiculously convoluted plot, the addition of a new character almost reminiscent of a Marvel-type villain, and – speaking of Marvel – the expansion of Christian’s support system into something resembling Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, make it clear that the creatives here want to – perhaps unwisely — build this into a superhero franchise of their own.
Eight years after the events of ‘The Accountant,’ Ray King (J.K. Simmons), retired director of the U.S. Treasury financial crimes bureau, is shot dead outside a bar by assassins (don’t holler, it’s right there in the trailer) after a meeting with an unknown woman who only goes by the name Anais (Daniella Pineda). King’s death and the circumstances behind are naturally investigated by his one-time assistant, Deputy Director Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), whose last message from King was to call in Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) – accountant to criminal organizations and FBI mole – to help her figure what shady business their friend was wrapped up in.
The only lead is a photo of an undocumented family of immigrants, who disappeared some years back. Christian, who now lives an itinerant life out of his tricked-out Airstream RV, in turn calls his brother, security expert and professional killer Brax (Jon Bernthal), to help, despite the two not being in touch again for years. As Christian, Brax, and Marybeth delve deeper into what Ray was involved with, they discover he was on the trail of human traffickers – and the woman he was meeting the night he died has her own agenda and bizarre history as well.
What set ‘The Accountant’ apart from most other crime thrillers was the way Christian went about solving problems – as puzzles in math and logic – and the relationship between him and the corporate accountant played in the first film by Anna Kendrick, who’s sorely missed here. That’s replaced by essentially a bromance between the two siblings, and indeed the best parts of ‘The Accountant 2’ are the scenes of simple back-and-forth between the preternaturally calm Christian and the frequently hot-headed Brax.
The scene in which the two share beers atop Christian’s Airstream, talking about their dad, the effect he had on them, and their own fractured relationship – Brax looking for a sign of affection, Christian not able to give it due to his condition – is the best in the film. The second best comes right after that, when Christian and Brax head out to a country bar where Christian abruptly starts line dancing with a woman who’s interested in him, much to Brax’s delight. Although it stops the plot and the film literally in their tracks for 10 minutes, it at least features some of the idiosyncratic vibe of its predecessor.
The brotherly comedy in the movie – which is ramped up here – clashes awkwardly with the grim human trafficking plot at the center of the film, a confusing vortex of plot points that could snarl even a human computer like Christian. There are also increasingly outlandish and indirect nods to superhero cinema, with Christian’s helper at Harbor Neuroscience now a team of a dozen kids, all on the spectrum, who sit at their laptops and can do everything from hack into mobile phones to switch off blocks of traffic lights (where are their teachers?). With backup like that, the Wolff brothers are all but indestructible, even against a kind of super soldier who adds another layer of comic-book mayhem to the proceedings. By the time we get to the standard, improbable (and generic) climactic shootout with the two brothers against an army of thugs, it’s truly difficult to remember how they got there and what the endgame is.
It’s the clash of tones – family melodrama, buddy cop movie, brutal thriller, and Marvel-lite knockoff – that doesn’t add up in the end, making ‘The Accountant 2’ literally less than the sum of its parts. By piling on more, the filmmakers end up with less.
We’re not able to comment directly on the neurobiological accuracy of Ben Affleck’s work – which got a split response from the autism community in the first film – but he and the movie seem somewhat at odds: the literal-minded Christian is used more as the butt of jokes this time out (almost like Dave Bautista’s Drax, to wring another Marvel comparison out of this), while the humor was more organic the first time around. Affleck still acquits himself well enough, though, especially in the scenes between him and Bernthal. His best moments come when we see Christian attempting to push himself past his neurological barriers and not always getting there.
Bernthal is probably the film’s MVP, in the sense that we learn more about him this time out while Affleck’s Christian is already established. One of current cinema’s best tough guys, Bernthal gets the chance to peel away some of the top layers of Brax’s heavily armored personality and reveal the wounded younger sibling underneath. He plays Brax’s need for approval – denied by the boys’ father, he now turns to his older brother for it – beautifully, along with the hurt he feels when he doesn’t get what he yearns for, creating an intense, internal tug of war with his fierce sense of loyalty and brotherly love.
Cynthia Addai-Robinson is once again sort of the audience avatar, meant to smooth over the vagaries of the plot by asking helpful questions of the brothers, but while she does get one brutal fight scene, she’s largely out of the picture by the third act. As for Daniella Pineda, we’ll leave her role spoiler-free except to say that a choice made by the filmmakers late in the game doesn’t make much sense to us. The rest of the cast — villains and thugs – are unremarkable and unmemorable.
We went into ‘The Accountant 2’ with decent expectations, especially because the first movie grew on us and there was a lot of potential in the relationship between the two brothers. And while they do provide the best moments in the movie, the bigger scope pushes this into more generic action/crime territory and loses some of what made the first one distinct.
Sadly, making Christian, Brax, and their confederates into a crimefighting force in all but name means that the franchise will have to go even more blockbuster for ‘The Accountant 3,’ if that film comes to pass. But we kind of wish that the series would find its way back to logic puzzles, corporate shenanigans, and a modest murder mystery – the elements that boosted the good will for ‘The Accountant’ in the first place.
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What is the plot of ‘The Accountant 2’?
When someone close to her is killed by unknown assassins, Treasury Agent Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) is forced to contact Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) to solve the murder. With the help of his estranged but highly lethal brother Brax (Jon Bernthal), Chris applies his brilliant mind and less-than-legal methods to piece together the unsolved puzzle. As they get closer to the truth, the trio draw the attention of some of the most ruthless killers alive — all intent on putting a stop to their search.
(L to R) Allison Robertson, Ben Affleck, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Lynette Howell Taylor, Gavin O’Connor, Daniella Pineda and Jon Berthal attend the Amazon MGM Studios ‘The Accountant 2’ World Premiere at SXSW on Saturday March 8, 2025 in Austin, Texas.
Coming out in 2016, ‘The Accountant’ was the very definition of a sleeper hit. Directed by Gavin O’Connor (‘Warrior’), the film starred Ben Affleck as Christian Wolff, an autistic man with a genius for numbers who acts as a financial adviser and forensic accountant for criminal organizations.
Tasked with examining the books for an allegedly legit but corrupt firm, Christian is pursued by Treasury agents Ray King (J.K. Simmons) and Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), while also learning that a hitman on his trail turns out to be his long-estranged brother Braxton (Jon Bernthal).
‘The Accountant’ was a surprise success at the box office, grossing $155 million worldwide off a reasonable $44 million budget, but the movie also had a vibrant afterlife on streaming and home video, which ultimately led to the development of ‘The Accountant 2.’
(L to R) Jon Bernthal and Ben Affleck in ‘The Accountant 2’. Photo: Amazon MGM Studios.
The sequel brings back O’Connor, Affleck, Bernthal, and Addai-Robinson, with the latter three reuniting to investigate the mysterious death of Ray King. Operating on the fringes of the law and the criminal underworld, the trio find themselves dealing with both a human trafficking ring and a lethal new assassin (Danielle Pineda).
With ‘The Accountant 2’ arriving in theaters on April 25th, members of the cast and crew – including Affleck, Bernthal, Pineda, Addai-Robinson, and O’Connor — participated in a virtual press conference that Moviefone had the opportunity to attend, along with other members of the press, and crunch the numbers on ‘The Accountant 2.’
Ben Affleck attends the Amazon MGM Studios ‘The Accountant 2’ World Premiere at SXSW on Saturday March 8, 2025 in Austin, Texas.
With the exception of his two-movie stint (plus cameos) as Batman in the now-defunct DC Snyderverse, and brief appearances as Daredevil in the director’s cut of ‘Elektra’ and his ‘Chasing Amy’ character in Kevin Smith’s ViewAskewniverse, Ben Affleck has never played the same character twice until taking on the role of Christian Wolff.
Ben Affleck: The first one – which was successful and I was really proud of — had a longer life in terms of the real-life feedback that I get from people and what movies they mention when they come up to me. So I definitely was aware, “Oh, wow, that movie seems to still be watched.” I think it’s also a function of the fact that streaming really started to take off after this movie. Also, I love this character. I really enjoyed playing it. Gavin and I both very much were drawn to the idea of bringing Jon back and expanding on that because we both were like, “This guy’s fabulous,” and we both felt like there was a lot more to do. Bill (Dubuque, screenwriter) and Gavin spent a lot of time in the intervening years developing and putting together — in a meticulous, detail-oriented, character-driven way that’s quite typical of Gavin — what it could be, because both were quite mindful of not wanting to repeat [the first one]. So everything about it was appealing to me.
2) Gavin O’Connor Didn’t Want To Make The Same Movie Twice
Director Gavin O’Connor says he was very concerned – as Ben Affleck states above – with not just rehashing the first ‘Accountant.’
Gavin O’Connor: There was certain DNA that was important to preserve, and then after that, it was a lot of left turns and just try to refill the tank in a very different way. I in no way wanted to recycle the same thing that we did in the first film, so it was just a matter of how do we just start recreating the character in a way that is putting him on a different journey, integrating Brax, and bringing Cynthia back. We knew the key in the ignition was to kill Ray because I wanted it to be personal for both [Christian and Marybeth]. Most importantly, I just wanted to make a movie that was fun and entertaining and put people in the seats, where they can walk out of the theater and go, “Man, that was a f**king ball. That was a great time at the movies.” That’s really what we were going for.
3) Jon Bernthal Enjoyed Having A New Dynamic With Ben Affleck
Christian and Braxton spend a lot more time together in ‘The Accountant 2,’ and the film not only delves deeper into their backstory but also plays up both the friction and the humor between the two brothers, which Jon Bernthal cites as a major factor in his return.
Jon Bernthal: It was a real thrill for me to get back, and I think with Ben, it just kind of happened that way. I mean, it’s there, but it was very much supported by Gavin to sort of let moments linger and let it exist naturally and play the moments in between the beats. [Ben is] unbelievably funny and, it sounds corny, but he’s just mastered this character in such a way that there’s just so many little moments of truth that are going on that you love, but can also drive you crazy from the right point of view. I feel like I was really let off the leash to have a real opinion about that.
4) They Didn’t Set Out To Make The Sequel Funnier
Gavin O’Connor attends the Amazon MGM Studios ‘The Accountant 2’ World Premiere at SXSW on Saturday March 8, 2025 in Austin, Texas.
While there is a lot more humor in ‘The Accountant 2,’ Jon Bernthal notes that Gavin O’Connor “never told us to be funny.” O’Connor says that it wasn’t done on purpose – it just happened that way.
Gavin O’Connor: I don’t think we ever said, “Oh, it has to be funny.” When I say I wanted the movie to be fun and entertaining, I mean, Jon and I had so many sit-downs where we would just dissect the character and the intention in the scene, but once you just put these guys together, both of these guys, their characters are slightly bonkers in certain ways, so if you just let them do their thing, it was such a fertile kind of environment. The reason I think it works is because they weren’t trying to be funny. They were just so ingrained in their characters.
5) Cynthia Addai-Robinson Says She And Her Character Evolved At The Same Time
Cynthia Addai-Robinson attends the Amazon MGM Studios ‘The Accountant 2’ World Premiere at SXSW on Saturday March 8, 2025 in Austin, Texas.
Coming back to play Treasury agent Marybeth Medina, who is pushed to her limits both legally and physically by her collaboration with Christian and Braxton, Cynthia Addai-Robinson said that she and the character had a similar kind of growth from the first movie to the second.
Cynthia Addai-Robinson: I think I always viewed Marybeth as sort of the entry point for the audience because she’s observing and seeing all these things unfold around her and reacting in kind. And myself as an actor, same thing. I think back to working on the first movie. I was nervous. I was kind of out of my depth in a way, but just trying to present as if I wasn’t, which I think was a similar type of situation for Marybeth. Here we are eight years later, and Marybeth has evolved, she’s grown, she’s in this sort of elevated position within the Treasury Department, and for myself as a person and an actor, I felt like I had also grown, and it was like, “All right, I’m going to be returning to a situation that’s familiar. I feel a little bit more comfortable, a little bit more confident.” So that was really nice for me to kind of feel like, “Okay, I’m feeling like I can handle what I’m now getting thrown at me,” which is this dynamic with Ben and Jon’s characters and just, again, being that point of entry for the audience. I get to bear witness to all of their shenanigans and be like, “All right, these guys are kind of crazy and they’re also kind of challenging my view of how to serve justice really.”
6) Christian Wolff Is Not The Movie’s Protagonist, Says Ben Affleck
Although his role is right there in the title, Ben Affleck has a theory that somebody else is actually the movie’s main character.
Ben Affleck: The secret of this movie is that Cynthia is the protagonist really. She’s the lead in the movie. She is the entree for the audience, which means we get to play character parts, and there is a kind of relief from not having to carry a certain — there are a whole bunch of expectations and stuff that go with being the lead in the movie because, as Cynthia says, the audience is really projecting themselves onto you. So [Jon and I] are like a dual aggravant in some ways to her, and if you look at the math of the story, it’s about her being brought into this, seeing this person be killed, trying to find out what it was and what she has to go through to get there and the resolution of her story. That’s something that I find very artful and interesting, where this person is the lead of the movie and you have these dual character actors in there. That affords Jon and I the luxury of doing the sort of ‘Odd Couple‘ thing.
7) Daniella Pineda Says This Was Her Most Physically Demanding Role Yet
Daniella Pineda attends the Amazon MGM Studios ‘The Accountant 2’ World Premiere at SXSW on Saturday March 8, 2025 in Austin, Texas.
Daniella Pineda’s first big break came via a major role in ‘The Vampire Diaries’ TV spinoff ‘The Originals,’ and more recently she has appeared in action-oriented movies like ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ and ‘Plane.’ But she says the role of Anais – a ruthless killer with an enigmatic and ultimately bizarre backstory – was her most challenging yet.
Daniella Pineda: I would say it was definitely next level. I mean, it’s not necessarily a character you see all the time. There is something really compelling about watching a predator do their thing, but at the same time, I felt like there’s more to her. There are more layers there. So she’s not just a stone-cold killer, and it’s the type of role that I would like to see more women get to play. They’re certainly here in the real world. I love to beat the s**t out of Cynthia (laughs). But we were hugging in between takes and it was nice. I got really lucky. I had a good partner.
Gavin O’Connor says the reason the action – which can be quite violent — works in ‘The Accountant 2’ is because the movie spends the time getting the viewer invested in the characters.
Gavin O’Connor: We can cite action movies that are great, but it just feels like the action is in front of the characters. For us, and the same with the girls, we were always coming from characters. What we were always tracking when we got to the third act was, “How are [Jon and Ben] working together? How are they now united?” We knew the stakes, we knew what they wanted, so inside the action and choreography, it was really about the emotional line between the two brothers and how are they going to try to accomplish this together. That was really what the conversations were about. Action isn’t emotional, and no one cares about disposable violence, so it was really evoking emotion because you care about the characters.
9) We Find Out A Lot More About Jon Bernthal’s Brax
While Jon Bernthal’s character, Brax, is a relatively late arrival in the first ‘Accountant,’ he’s in much more of the sequel and we get to discover more about Christian’s tough and fiercely loyal brother.
Jon Bernthal: Brax is really sort of shrouded in mystery in the first one. You really don’t know too much about him, but you have these amazing flashbacks to see how these two boys were raised and what their relationship was with their dad. It really is the crux of what is bothering both of them and what’s really bothering Brax, the roles that we’ve always filled for each other, getting each other’s back, having to be there for each other, and the lack of being there for each other. So it doesn’t culminate just in a gunfight, it culminates in, “Hey, I’m there for you. I’m getting your back, you’re getting mine. We’re joined forever,” and it’s a way, for lack of a better word, of showing how much you love somebody.
10) Ben Affleck Line Dances Onscreen For The First Time
(L to R) Ben Affleck and Jon Berthal attend the Amazon MGM Studios ‘The Accountant 2’ World Premiere at SXSW on Saturday March 8, 2025 in Austin, Texas.
In one unexpected scene, Christian and Brax take a night off and head to a bar – where the introverted Christian shockingly gets up and begins to line dance with a woman on the crowded floor. Affleck jokes about the scene, “America wasn’t asking for it, but they’re going to get it.”
Ben Affleck: That was one of the fun things about this, the idea that here’s a guy who wants to have a relationship with a woman, and he’s trying to figure out how to do that, how to put yourself out there. He’s not comfortable extending himself, he doesn’t really know how to flirt exactly, like so many of us. It’s not easy for anyone figuring out relationships, particularly the very early part where you’re trying to gauge, “What does this signal mean? Is this person looking at me? Do they like me? Am I going to humiliate myself if I go over there?” What he does is kind of a lovely thing: he uses something that he’s comfortable with, which in that case is the ability to recognize and identify the pattern of line dancing — because it is so structured and patterned — to participate in this. It’s the perfect way that he’s comfortable with standing next to this woman who he’s attracted to and wants to connect with, because it’s kind of like parallel play with little kids. You don’t have to look at somebody and engage them, but you get to be with them and do something next to them, and he finds a way that he’s comfortable doing that. I probably am not going to get a lot more demands for my line dancing work, but it was really fun. I think what’s charming about it, at least I hope, is that it’s somebody putting themselves out there to do something that they’re not necessarily great at, but they’re trying. I mean really, at the end of the day, that’s all any of us can do.
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What is the plot of ‘The Accountant 2’?
When someone close to her is killed by unknown assassins, Treasury Agent Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) is forced to contact Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) to solve the murder. With the help of his estranged but highly lethal brother Brax (Jon Bernthal), Chris applies his brilliant mind and less-than-legal methods to piece together the unsolved puzzle. As they get closer to the truth, the trio draw the attention of some of the most ruthless killers alive — all intent on putting a stop to their search.
(L to R) Ben Affleck, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Daniella Pineda and Jon Berthal at the Amazon/MGM presentation at CinemaCon 2025 in Las Vegas.Photo: Amazon/MGM.
Preview:
‘Project Hail Mary’ and more were showcased at Amazon MGM’s CinemaCon presentation.
There was news of ‘Masters of the Universe’ and Luca Guadagno’s latest.
Ryan Gosling, Ben Affleck and more showed up to support their movies.
Amazon has popped up at CinemaCon a couple of times in the past, but usually partnered with one of the big theatrical studios. But as Amazon MGM Studios plans to hugely expand its cinematic footprint (having also joined the Motion Picture Association), it is also making its big, proper debut at the movie trade show.
Given the recent giant news about Amazon gaining full control of the Bond franchise, there was plenty of expectation of some announcement about that, though even with the hiring of producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman to oversee the company’s plans, unless the deal to bring them in was sealed a lot earlier than reported, was it likely that we’d have anything beyond the company touting the new arrangement?
It was an unusually late schedule time-wise, presumably because the likes of Sony, Warners, Disney and co. had snapped up the prime spots. But as a statement of intent from the new kid on the block, it had to deliver.
It’s another tale of a reluctant astronaut, this one played by Ryan Gosling, who has to try and save the Earth. The presentation kicked off with the impressive first teaser for the sci-fi movie. Set to Harry Styles’ ‘Sign of the Times,’ it looks very different to other Lord/Miller movies, but also great.
Gosling plays a schoolteacher recruited by Sandra Huller to save the planet, which is threatened by a dying sun. “You want the right stuff. I’ve got the wrong stuff! I put the NOT in astronaut. I can’t even moonwalk!” he claims amusingly (it’s even funnier coming from the man who played Neil Armstrong in ‘First Man.’)
Mike Hopkins, Head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios took the stage to announce that the company is committed to theatrical releases, with 14 working titles being readied for next year and 15 planned for 2027. They’re apparently ahead of schedule.
And the ‘Project Hail Mary’ team –– Lord, Miller and Gosling –– arrived on stage to caution the crowd that all the footage was work in progress, with Gosling singling cinematographer Greig Fraser (who also worked on the ‘Dune’ movies) out for particular praise.
Lord and Miller explained how much of themselves they poured into the movie, the biggest project they’ve ever worked on.
Gosling: “This is why we go to the movies, and I’m not just saying it because I’m in it. I’m ALSO a producer on this movie.”
Says Miller:
“Thank you for seeing movies on the big screen with the most weird and disturbing popcorn buckets imaginable.” Can’t wait to see their ‘Hail Mary’ bucket…
‘Project Hail Mary Blasts’ off in theaters on March 20th, 2026.
‘The Thomas Crown Affair’ apparently “has a few unexpected, modern twists.” Bradford Young is the cinematographer on the movie, and ‘Black Panther’s Ruth E. Carter will handle the costumes.
‘Verity,’ meanwhile, had a teaser to show, featuring the song ‘Fade Into You’ by Mazzy Star, and introduced by a fun video by the cast.
‘Verity’ has a May15th, 2026 release date set, while ‘Thomas Crown’ is too early in the process to score its own slot yet.
The latest drama from the prolific Luca Guadagnino stars Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield and follows a professor whose career is derailed by scandal. Andrew Garfield’s character is accused of assaulting Ayo Edebiri’s, and it becomes major news after Julia Roberts’ character, an attorney, takes on his case.
Edebiri and Garfield showed up on stage with Guadagnino, and Garfield praised his director, who he said he’d wanted to work with for 15 years.
The first footage from the movie was screened for the audience via a trailer.
‘After The Hunt’ will head to theaters on October 17th.
The new Chris Pratt sci-fi pic ‘Mercy’ was the next to be spotlighted, with the first footage of the movie, directed by Timur Bekmambetov.
It’s a blend of courtroom drama and action where an AI program serves as the judge, jury, and executioner. Pratt has 90 minutes to prove he didn’t kill his wife, using all technology available.
Since the trailer introduces the audiences to a high-tech chair where Pratt’s character is confined, what better way to promote than by having Pratt in said chair on stage for the presentation, jokingly forced to say a proper thank you to the assembled exhibitors, lest he had to Uber home.
Co-starring Rebecca Ferguson, the film will be in cinemas on January 23rd, 2026.
Lest you start checking again whether we’ve turned the clock back to April Fool’s Day, this is in fact a very real movie, directed by ‘Despicable Me’ veteran Kyle Balda, and is a live-action murder mystery where the detectives are sheep.
Director Layton, who says that from the very beginning, this movie was written, imagined, planned and dreamed for the big screen, is joined by Hemsworth and Berry on stage to introduce a trailer.
Layton also says he wrote Keoghan’s part as a dirt bike-riding maniac especially for him.
Hemsworth added that they wanted to make a gripping and thought provoking thriller that really captures L.A.
Director Aleshea Harris makes her cinematic debut with an adaptation of her play.
Vivica A. Fox took the stage with some of the other cast to show a trailer.
It’s the story of two little girls and their mother who were the victims of an arson attack at the hands of their father (Sterling K. Brown). Their mother’s dying wish? That the two girls, now adults, kill their father.
After that, head of film Courtenay Valenti and marketing chief Sue Kroll were introduced to extoll the company’s commitment to theatrical and that it is ramping up more productions from the Orion and United Artists.
From there, it was back to film promotion with…
Daniel Craig as James Bond in ‘Casino Royale.’
Bond! But there isn’t very much to tell yet (as we guessed), with more of a mention that chosen producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman are getting down to work in London to figure out next steps.
“(We are) committed to honoring the legacy of Bond while bringing a fresh take.”
With the movie finally in production after years in development limbo, a behind-the-scenes featurette screened, which included a lot of work-in-progress props, and some sound bites from the powers that be promising a movie that is loyal to the cartoon and the toys.
Director Travis Knight gushed about having wanted to make this movie for years, adding:
“I have been a fan of Masters of the Universe pretty much my entire life. It was something I lived and breathed. I had the toys. I even had a He-Man haircut.”
‘Masters of the Universe’ will be on screens on June 5th, 2026.
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Headed our way more imminently (as in, a couple of weeks) is…
(L to R) Ben Affleck, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Gavin O’Connor, Daniella Pineda a and Jon Berthal at the Amazon/MGM presentation at CinemaCon 2025 in Las Vegas.Photo: Amazon/MGM.
Affleck, Bernthal, Cynthia Addai Robinson and O’Connor were there to present an extended trailer for the action movie, which indicates that this sequel leans into the buddy comedy interplay between the brothers played by Affleck and Bernthal. While the trailer’s humor worked, the scripted banter on stage left something to the imagination, though it wasn’t really the fault of the cast.
‘The Accountant 2’ shoots for screens on April 25th
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Amazon MGM Studios’ presentation wrapped up with much talk of the past, present and future for the company’s ambitions –– and the assembled talent from their projects taking a selfie.
