EXCLUSIVE: After planning plenty of robberies in the Ocean’s Eleven movies, Matt Damon and Casey Affleck are ready to plan another heist as two thieves in The Instigators for Apple Original Films. Apple recently landed the coveted package, which has Doug Liman on board to direct.

Damon and Ben Affleck are producing through their newly announced banner Artists Equity, along with Jeff Robinov and John Graham through Studio 8 and Kevin Walsh through his The Walsh Company.

The film follows two thieves who must go on the run with the help of one of their therapists after a robbery goes awry. The script was penned by Chuck MacLean and was developed by Robinov, Graham and Casey Affleck.

The project joins the slate behind Ben Affleck and Damon’s newly formed studio Artists Equity, which partners with filmmakers to empower creative vision and broaden access to profit participation. The first project announced as part of Artists Equity’s slate was Ben Affleck’s untitled drama that tells the true story behind the creation of the iconic Air Jordan brand, which he is directing with Damon starring. That film is in post-production and is already drawing buzz as one of 2023’s anticipated films.

Damon and the Afflecks’ long-standing relationship began with the Oscar-winning drama Good Will Hunting, which starred the three of them and won Damon and Ben Affleck an Oscar for Best Original screenplay. Since that film, they have worked with one another on a number of occasions that included Damon and Casey appearing in three Ocean’s Eleven films and Ben most recently directing Damon in the untitled Jordan-Nike drama. Damon also produced Manchester by the Sea, which won Casey the Oscar for Best Actor.

As for Walsh, the Manchester by the Sea Oscar nominee recently signed a multi-year deal with Apple TV+ to produce film and television for the streamer, including Ridley Scott’s epic Napoleon starring Joaquin Phoenix.

The Instigators also marks a reunion for Damon and Liman, who helped launched the Jason Bourne series with The Bourne Identity in 2002 with Damon starring and Liman directing.

Damon and the Afflecks are represented by WME and Ziffren Brittenham LLP. Liman is repped by CAA. Walsh is represented by Gregory Slewett at Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole. MacLean is repped by Grandview and Hansen Jacobson.

Fresh off playing military men in Oppenheimer, Matt Damon and Casey Affleck are teaming up again onscreen for a very different kind of mission: stealing from a corrupt politician.

Co-written by Affleck, The Instigators sees the duo returning to their Boston roots for the upcoming heist flick, and Entertainment Weekly has the exclusive first look. Affleck says the Apple TV+ original is inspired by some of his favorites. "The inspiration for this was definitely Midnight Run and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," says the actor, adding that he'd always "wanted to do a buddy action comedy."



Damon costars as Rory, a desperate father who reluctantly joins forces with Cobby (Affleck), an ex-con, "to pull off a robbery of the ill-gained earnings of a corrupt politician," per the official synopsis. When the heist inevitably goes sideways, the unlikely pair "find themselves engulfed in a whirlwind of chaos, pursued not only by the police but also backward bureaucrats and vengeful crime bosses." Along the way, they somehow convince Rory's therapist (Hong Chau) to join their "riotous getaway."



Or, as Affleck puts it, "The Instigators is about two strangers who are hired for a heist. They become frenemies and then become friends while Jack Harlow yells at us, Paul Walter Hauser insults us, Ving Rhames hunts us, and Hong Chau keeps us alive."

Not only was the movie a homecoming of sorts for the two famous Bostonians, but the film also reunited Damon with director Doug Liman for the first time since 2002's The Bourne Identity. "Casey Affleck and [co-writer] Chuck MacLean had created some great characters and a really fun world," Damon says of what drew him to the project. "More than anything, it was a chance to work with Doug and Casey together that I was the most excited about. And it’s always great to go back to Boston."

Of reteaming with Liman, Damon adds, "I absolutely love working with Doug. I can’t believe it took us 20 years to find something else to do together. Doug is one of the most creatively tenacious people I’ve ever met. He just won’t stop until the movie is as good as it can be, and that is the best possible thing you can feel from a director. I trust him completely."

"It was so fulfilling to see how each of us has grown," adds Liman. "And by that, I mean to see how much Matt has grown. And not just as an actor."

Friends since grade school, Affleck and Damon lived together, along with Casey's brother and fellow actor, Ben, when they were up-and-comers trying to make it big in Hollywood. Asked what it was like working with two longtime partners in crime, Liman says, "Like I was parachuted into a family." He adds, "With Bourne, I was inviting Matt into my world. But with Instigators, I was very clear being dropped into Matt’s family. And all that history, good and bad, is on the screen."



The Instigators hits select theaters on Aug. 2 before streaming globally on Apple TV+ on Aug. 9.