An ambitious screenwriter has been looking to reuniteBen AffleckandMatt Damonfor a sequel toGood Will Hunting, but for better or for worse, the film will not be happening. The collaborations between Affleck and Damon go back many years, stemming from the incredible success ofGood Will Huntingin 1997. Directed by Gus Van Sant,Good Will Huntingwas written by Affleck and Damon with the duo winning the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Affleck and Damon also starred in the film alongside the late Robin Williams, who’d also take the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
The movie stars Damon as Will Hunting, a janitor with an extraordinarily high IQ whose briliance is discovered by a professor. After getting into a skirmish and getting arrested, Will takes a deal to avoid jail time if he studies mathematics and undergoes psychotherapy sessions. With a conclusive ending that wraps up the story perfectly, the movie has never generated any real fan demands for a sequel, even with its immense critical acclaim. But as Damon toldVarietyat the L.A. premiere ofAir, the Affleck-directed film that stars both Affleck and Damon, someone actually pitched a direct sequel to him recently. The very suggestion was clearly just amusing for the actor and writer.
“Someone just tried to pitch BenGood Will Hunting 2,” Damon revealed. “I sh*t you not — that happened. He told me today. He was like, ‘You’re not going to believe what I heard.’ This was a flat-out sequel. I don’t get it.”
Affleck was asked about theGood Will Huntingsequel pitch as well. He reluctantly confirms the pitch, noting how he would have preferred if Damon hadn’t made it public.
“Matt is always telling stories that he should not be telling,” Affleck said.
To further clear the air, the actor and filmmaker also wants to assure fans of the original that they won’t need to worry about the unwanted sequel getting the green light.
“It’s not a sequel we’re going to pursue,” says theAirhelmer.
Related:Ben Affleck & Matt Damon on Their Friendship and Making Movies Together: ‘We Were Going to Help Each Other’
Good Will Hunting 2 Was Made… in Kevin Smith’s Movie Universe
While the writers ofGood Will Huntingaren’t interested in doing a legitimate sequel, they were willing to do a parody version in a fictional universe. Both Affleck and Damon appeared as themselves in the 2001 comedyJay and Silent Bob Strike Back, which follows Kevin Smith and Jay Mewes as a pair of potheads who travel to Hollywood to stop a movie based on them from getting made. There’s a scene in that film where they inadvertently stumble onto the set ofGood Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season. The scene imagines the characters played by Affleck and Damon as getting bloody revenge a Harvard bully with original actor Scott William Winters reprising the role.
For more of Affleck and Damon, you can catchAirin theaters on July 17, 2025.
