Matt Damon & Ben Affleck Team up for The Last Duel, Ridley Scott to Direct
Deadline reports that The Last Duel, a historical revenge movie, is quickly coming together with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck attached to star and Ridley Scott in line to direct. Damon and Affleck also co-wrote the script with Nicole Holofcener, the first collaboration between the pair since the Academy Award winning Good Will Hunting.
Based on the book The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France by Eric Jager, the novel takes place in 1386 and tells the story a Norman knight who returns from war to find his wife accusing his old friend of raping her. The story sees the French court decide the fate of the accusation with trial by combat between the pair.
One wrinkle in the film’s development is that the script was originally acquired by Fox, now owned by Disney. Given the subject matter it remains to be seen if Disney will follow-through with the feature film and release it under their 20th Century Fox banner or if they will pass on the project altogether. Deadline reports that other studios are eager to snatch it up should that arise.
The Last Duel would mark the second collaboration between Damon and Scott, who previously worked on The Martian together. Scott and Kevin Walsh will produce alongside Damon and Affleck.
(Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)