Ashleigh Hill-Buxton
UPDATE!: The Playlist reports that Gus Van Sant, Damon buddy and collaborator, will direct the film.
A couple of days ago Matt Damon spoke to The Herald-Sun about a movie he was planning to make his directorial debut on. The untitled Warner Bros film, said to be in the vein of “Erin Brockovich”, would star John Krasinski from “The Office”, who also co-wrote the script.
The actor tells The Herald-Sun in an interview published Christmas week :
“I’m really excited about it. I have been wanting to direct for a long time and this script has just gotten really good. It’s something I want to get right because it’s something I want to be able to do (in the future).”
Damon describes the as-yet untitled project as a “small story” about a salesman who goes to upstate New York and is changed by the experience.
Writing isn’t new to Damon, who won an Oscar with Ben Affleck in 1998 for screenwriting Good Will Hunting.
“I really loved the characters as we wrote them,” he says of his work with Krasinski. “They started taking on a voice of their own. And it’s not so ambitious a film, the scale of it isn’t that big. And that’s important the first time out.
“I remember (Steven) Spielberg saying to me years ago, ‘The first time you direct, don’t try to do too much – just see if you have a knack for telling a story this way’. And I have never forgotten that.”
Seems things have changed in such a short amount of time with Damon no longer planning to direct the movie.
Vulture reported earlier today :
A well-placed source tells Vulture that script issues have Damon pulling back from his commitment to direct the film, though we’re told he’s still up for starring in the $12 million project.
The Hollywood Reporter confirms the report, saying :
Sources now confirm to THR that Damon has dropped out as director due to what are being called “scheduling issues.
So, in other words, same project with the same actors… just a different director.
