Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s production banner Artists Equity has signed a multi-year streaming first-look deal, production and distribution agreement with Netflix.
Artists Equity, co-founded with RedBird Capital’s Gerry Cardinale, recently partnered with Netflix on the crime thriller The Rip, starring both Affleck and Damon. The film spent three weeks as the No. 1 movie on the streamer’s Top 10 chart, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Netflix is also set to release Affleck’s next directorial feature, Animals, which features the Oscar winner alongside Kerry Washington and Gillian Anderson. It is scheduled to release later this year.
“This is an incredible milestone for Artists Equity and one that validates the vision we’ve been working towards since 2022. From the jump, we’ve seen this growing need for an independent supplier comfortable across the entire creative process, from development to final cut. Netflix is a great match for our work,” Affleck and Damon said in a joint statement.
They praised Netflix film chairman Dan Lin and his team, saying they have a unique connection with the "modern viewer and the ability to unite audiences over a shared cultural moment".
The Netflix partnership follows a similar pact between Artists Equity and Sony Pictures focused on theatrical releases.
Under the three-year agreement with Sony, the studio will distribute Artists Equity’s theatrical films globally, finance the projects and handle ancillary rights. Artists Equity retains the option to co-finance certain titles.
Decisions on whether projects will be developed under the Netflix streaming deal or the Sony theatrical pact will be made on a case-by-case basis, depending on discussions between Artists Equity and its studio partners.