Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were back on the same red carpet Thursday night, although only one of the longtime friends ended up starring in the movie they were celebrating.
The pair attended the Los Angeles premiere of Animals at the Westwood Village Theater on October 1. Affleck directed, co-wrote and stars in the Netflix crime thriller, while Damon remained behind the scenes as a producer after an earlier version of the project had him playing the lead.
Damon attended with wife Luciana Damon, who is also a producer on the film. Just Jared reported that Affleck was joined by cast members Kerry Washington, Steven Yeun, Luis Gerardo Méndez and Adriana Paz, with Ray Fisher also attending the premiere.
The event came one week before Animals reaches audiences. Netflix says the film will open in select theaters and begin streaming on October 9.
Damon Was Originally Supposed to Play Affleck’s Role
Animals looked significantly different when Affleck and Damon first developed it. Damon was initially attached to star as the Los Angeles mayoral candidate at the center of the kidnapping story, with Affleck directing.
The project was eventually put on hold, and that delay changed the casting. TheWrap reported that when Affleck returned to the script, Damon was no longer available because his schedule had become tied up with Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.
Instead of finding another outside actor for the role, Affleck took it himself. The change left him handling three major creative jobs on the film: starring as Mark Kimball, directing and co-writing the screenplay with Connor McIntyre and Billy Ray.
Damon stayed on as a producer through Artists Equity, the studio he co-founded with Affleck and Gerry Cardinale, allowing the longtime collaborators to remain professionally connected to the movie even though they no longer share the screen.
The Trailer Puts Affleck and Kerry Washington at the Center of the Crisis
Affleck plays Mark Kimball, a Los Angeles mayoral candidate whose carefully constructed public and private life begins to unravel after his son Denny is kidnapped. Washington plays his wife, Abigail, as the couple scramble to find the ransom money while secrets inside their marriage begin surfacing.
Netflix Tudum says the kidnapping is designed to push both characters into increasingly difficult moral decisions. Affleck described the story as an examination of what people do when their “masks come off,” while also calling the movie fundamentally a story about marriage and the bargains people make inside one.
The ensemble includes Gillian Anderson as the mysterious fixer Dayle, along with Steven Yeun, Adriana Paz, Luis Gerardo Méndez and Christopher Woodley. Affleck said the cast rehearsed together for several weeks before filming, with production taking place around Los Angeles.
Matt and Luciana Damon Both Stayed Involved as Producers
@lupellerenas Ben Affleck & Matt Damon at the Netflix “Animals” Premiere in Los Angeles 📍 @Netflix #benaffleck #mattdamon #animals #netflix #premiere ♬ Wolf in the Dark – Slight Stoop Kid
Damon’s continued involvement goes beyond showing up for his friend’s premiere. Netflix lists Matt Damon, Luciana Damon, Affleck, Dani Bernfeld, Brad Weston and Collin Creighton among the film’s producers.
Animals was made in partnership with Artists Equity, extending the production company Affleck and Damon launched together after decades of moving between acting, writing and producing alongside one another. Their recent collaborations have included Air and fellow Netflix crime movie The Rip.
Reuters photographed Affleck with Matt and Luciana Damon at Thursday’s premiere alongside Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria.