There are probably a fair few stories of directors wishing they had picked up Ben Affleck movies, especially since he’s the mind behind such classic movies as Good Will Hunting, Argo, and, recently, Air.
In particular, Adrian Lyne, who is noted for having directed such iconic films as Fatal Attraction, Lolita, and Flashdance, came very close to directing a movie that would end up falling into the hands of the Good Will Hunting creator.
When talking to IndieWire about movies that slipped through his fingers, Lyne confessed that letting the 2010 action movie The Town go might have been a mistake.
“This is my fault, because Ben Affleck ended up doing it,” Lyne says. “I thought it was this mammoth movie. I thought of it as operatic almost, that it had a huge scale. It could have been two-and-a-half hours or something.”
So what was the reason for the eventual miss? Well, it turns out, the reasons for the pass were financial, since Lyne felt he required a bigger budget for the thriller movie.
“At that time, you were getting good budgets for films, people were doing that, and I thought that it needed $70 million to do it,” he continues. “They offered me 50 and I should have done it for 50. Just stupid. It’s my fault. And Ben Affleck did it for 50 and he did a good movie. I loved the script. It broke my heart, really. But it’s my fault.”
But it’s not all doom and gloom. Lyne would eventually go on to direct Affleck in the erotic thriller Deep Water in 2022, so at least the two are connected in one way or another.
Can’t get enough Ben? Check out our Air review. Alternatively, check out our lists of the best romance movies and best drama movies you can watch now. Don’t forget about all the amazing new movies coming out this year, too.