Netflix will be unleashing another potentially big hit movie with Triple Frontier in March. The action heist thriller features an all-star line-up both in front of the camera and behind it.
Triple Frontier features Ben Affleck, Charlie Hunnam, Oscar Isaac, Pedro Pascal and Garrett Hedlund as five former U.S. special operatives who try to steal millions of dollars from a South American cartel to get the big pay day they feel their government never gave them.
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Considering the star power, Netflix must be hoping for another record breaker like Bird Box. After the Sandra Bullock-starring film was released on Dec. 21, the streaming service claimed it broke its movie viewing record with more than 45 million views.
Before Triple Frontier hits Netflix on March 15, here is everything we know.
Photo credit: Netflix
‘Triple Frontier’ Was Directed by Oscar-nominee J.C. Chandor
Triple Frontier is the fourth film from acclaimed director J.C. Chandor, and the first film he did not write by himself. He earned a Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination for his first film, the 2011 financial crisis drama Margin Call. Chandor followed that up with 2013’s All Is Lost, starring Robert Redford in an almost silent performance. In 2014, he directed A Most Violent Year with Isaac and Jessica Chastain.
It Was Written by Oscar-winner Mark Boal
Chandor wrote his first three films alone, but Triple Frontier was co-written with Mark Boal, who won the Oscarย for Best Original Screenplay for The Hurt Locker. He collaborated with Kathryn Bigelow again on Zero Dark Thirty and Detroit. At one point, Bigelow was going to direct Triple Frontier, but Chandor stepped in back in June 2015.
This is Affleck’s First Movie Release Since His Rehab Stint
Triple Frontier will be the first time audiences will see Affleck acting since he played Batman in 2017’s Justice League. Affleck did not appear in a film during 2018, which was a difficult year for the two-time Oscar-winner. His divorce from Jennifer Garner was finalized in November after spending time in rehab over the summer.
“Battling any addiction is a lifelong and difficult struggle,” Affleck wrote in an Instagram statement. “Because of that, one is never really in or out of treatment. It is a full-time commitment. I am fighting for myself and my family. So many people have reached out on social media and spoken about their own journeys with addiction. To those people, I thank you.”
Oscar Isaac Calls It a ‘Study in Greed’
“It’s a study in greed and also a sense of: What does it mean to feel that you’ve sacrificed so much and feel like you’ve not really been looked after?” Isaac said of the film in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
“What starts out as a kind of morally righteous mission ends up becoming more and more questionable as it goes on,” Affleck added.
During the production, the cast also developed a close relationship.
“I am expecting to be married to Charlie Hunnam any day now, so when you see that announcement, know that me and Charlie, we hit it off and wanted to tie the knot on Triple Frontier,” Affleck joked.
At One Point, Tom Hanks and Johnny Depp Were Going to Star
Movies hardly ever turn out how one hopes when work starts out. Back in 2010, Triple Frontier had Bigelow directing and was set up at Paramount. At that time, the director was trying to get Tom Hanks and Johnny Depp to star.
Hanks’ involvement was never concrete, but Depp’s name was linked to the project as late as January 2016. By then, Will Smith was offered a role, but he left to make Collateral Beauty, Variety reported at the time.
‘True Detective’ Star Mahershala Ali Left When Production Was Delayed
After more than eight years in development, Triple Frontier finally started production in March 2018, Deadline reported at the time.
However, Affleck’s brother, Casey Affleck, and Mahershala Ali both dropped out. Ali, who won an Oscar for his role in Moonlight, will instead be seen in HBO’s third season of True Detective . He had to leave because of the delay, which made it possible for Isaac to join.
Tom Harding and Channing Tatum were also attached to the project when it was still at Paramount.
It Was Filmed in Hawaii and California
Although set in South America, Triple Frontier was filmed in the U.S. Production took place in Oahu, Hawaii and at the mountains in Mammoth Lakes, California.
“There were these long chase sequences, so I spent a lot of time prepping and doing high-altitude training,” Isaac told EW. “I didn’t want to hold up everything by having to take half-hour breaks between every take!”
The film’s title is a reference to the real Triple Frontier, the name for the area where the borders of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina meet.
It Is One of Several Movies Charlie Hunnam has in the Pipeline
Triple Frontier follows a busy year for former Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam. In 2018, he made the boxing drama Jungleland, with Jack O’Connell and Jessica Barden, and the Western The True History of the Kelly Gang. He also appeared in Sam Taylor-Johnson’s A Million Little Pieces, which still does not have a release date after debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. Hunnam is now filming Guy Ritchie’s Toff Guys with Hugh Grant and Matthew McConaughey.
