Ben Affleck And Matt Damon Reunite For Netflix Crime Thriller Animals

In a devastating (but perhaps none too surprising) blow to Dad Cinema enthusiasts the world over, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's acclaimed true-story Nike drama "Air" was completely ignored by the Academy when Oscar nominations were announced earlier this week. However, if you were expecting the Oscar-winning duo/best buds to spend the immediate future licking their wounds and wallowing in self-pity, guess again. According to The Hollywood Reporter, they've instead gone and lined up their next project together — an original crime thriller titled "Animals," which now has Netflix backing it.

Having previously gone under working titles like "The Animals of Los Angeles" and "Be Gentlemen," the new Affleck-Damon joint will see Damon starring and Affleck directing from a script by Connor McIntyre with revisions from "Shattered Glass" and "Captain Phillips" scribe Billy Ray. The plot involves (per THR) "a mayoral candidate and his wife whose son is kidnapped. Surrounded by plenty of enemies, political and otherwise, the husband and wife have no choice but to get their hands real dirty in order to save their son." Assuming there are no last-minute complications (famous final words, I'm aware!), production will get underway in Los Angeles by March.

"Animals" marks a return to the crime thriller genre for Affleck, who proved his bona fides as a director in that arena with his first two feature directorial efforts, "Gone Baby Gone" and "The Town." After the unfortunate misfire that was his Prohibition-era crime flick "Live By Night" and the ensuing turmoil of "Justice League" and its fallout at Warner Bros. (including the cancelation of his original version of "The Batman"), Affleck the director found his groove again with last year's "Air," a film that was shockingly soulful for what on paper reads like a crass celebration of consumerism and modern capitalism.

Far from kicking his heels back and chillaxing on his and his wife Jennifer Lopez's yacht, Affleck recently lent Lopez a hand with her upcoming musical album movie "This Is Me ... Now: A Love Story," in addition to gearing up for the "Animals" shoot. On top of all that, Deadline is reporting that Affleck hopes to begin filming the slowly-developing sequel to director Gavin O'Connor's very weird (and, if I'm being honest, weirdly entertaining) 2016 action-thriller "The Accountant" later this year, which is why Netflix boarded "Animals" as quickly as it did. Say what you will about the man, but you gotta respect Affleck's hustle.

/Film will bring you more details on "Animals" (and all other Affleck-related ventures) as they come our way.