Per Deadline, Ridley Scott has found his next film in the form of The Last Duel, a 14th century revenge tale based on the novel by Eric Jager. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are set to star in the picture, which is being written by written by Damon, Affleck and Nicole Holofcener (the Oscar-nominated writer and director of Can You Ever Forgive Me?). This marks the first collaboration on a script to get made between Damon and Affleck since their Academy Award-winning work on Good Will Hunting.
Scott and Kevin Walsh are producing for Scott Free and Damon and Affleck are producing through their Pearl Street banner.
The outlet breaks down the story:
“It’s a revenge story of two best friends. Damon and Affleck will play them. The main characters are the Norman knight Jean de Carrouges and the squire Jacques Le Gris. They were friends. One goes to war and returns to accuse Le Gris of raping his wife Margerite de Carrouges. No one will believe the woman, and the soldier appeals to the king of France to undo a decision handed down by Count Pierre d’Anencon, which favored Le Gris. The decision handed down is that the two men fight a duel to the death. The one left alive would be declared the winner as a sign of God’s will. And if Jean de Carrouges loses, his wife will be burned at the stake for punishment for her false accusation.”
Clearly it doesn’t sound like a very Disney-friendly film. If the Mouse House decides not to move forward with the project after acquiring it via the Fox deal, reports say that every studio in town is waiting in the wings for this one. Scott would push back Merlin, the formative pic on the wizard at Disney.
This brings Scott’s career full circle. He made his feature directorial debut on The Duellists, a 1977 drama about a feud between two officers in the Napoleonic Era.
What do you make of The Last Duel with this trio of A-listers on board? Does it get you more excited? Jump down to the comments below and let me know your thoughts!
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