23 Jul – 22 years after "Good Will Hunting", childhood best friends to Oscar-winning duo Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are set to work together again on a movie. Both have been tapped to star in "The Last Duel", according to Deadline, with Ridley Scott directing. Aside from starring, both Damon and Affleck are also co-writing the script, along with Oscar-nominated writer-director Nicole Holofcener. This marks the duo's first writing collaboration since "Good Will Hunting". Based on Eric Jager's novel "The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France", the movie will see Damon and Affleck starring as two best friends, Norman knight Jean de Carrouges and the squire Jacques Le Gris.
de Carrouges goes to war and when he returns, he accuses Le Gris of raping his wife Margerite, though no one believes her. He appeals to the king of France to undo Count Pierre d'Anencon's decision, which favours Le Gris. The decision is the two men must fight a duel to the death. The one left alive will be declared the winner. If de Carrouges doesn't win, Margerite will be burned at the stake. Scott would have no problem directing this as he did make his feature directorial debut with the 1977 "The Duellists", a British historical drama film that follows two officers' feud in the Napoleonic Era. Fox had the right for the book for some time but it remains to be seen if Disney, who has acquired Fox, will put the movie in development since the movie's gritty plot doesn't exactly fit its more kid-friendly titles. If Disney doesn't develop it, other studios are reportedly waiting to do so. (Photo source: Jim Ruymen | UPI)