Jennifer Lopez to Star in Ben Affleck’s New Movie

Ben Affleck is working with long-time collaborator Matt Damon on his next project, and the star is a familiar face as well. The first movie by their new production company Artists Equity will be Unstoppable starring Affleck’s wife Jennifer Lopez. After the news broke on Friday, Affleck and Damon talked about the project on CBS Sunday Morning.

Unstoppable tells the true story of wrestler Anthony Robles, who will be played by Moonlight star Jharrel Jerome. It’s not clear what Lopez’s role will be, but Affleck only pretended to beat around the bush on Sunday before discussing their collaboration with CBS’Tracy Smith. He said: “I know where you’re going with this. But I’m gonna tell you who the lead actor is… We always hire the very best performers, and in this case, I can say every single person that’s been cast so far I think is the very absolute best choice.”

“She may be doing that movie,” Affleck joked when asked about Lopez. “Can’t make it look like she’s doing it as a favor to me, but actually she is. What fun, what a joy to do something with her, see her be great, go to work with your wife, go to work with your best friend. If you don’t like who you’re working with, and if you have difficulty or trouble at work, I think it’s one of the things that can really cause depression, anxiety and pain for people.”

“And conversely, [if] you love the people at work, you probably have a pretty good life, you know?” Affleck added. He and Damon will be the producers of the movie, while Billy Goldenberg will be the director. Affleck has worked with Goldenberg before, editing his movies Air and Argo. The real-life Robles will also be “heavily involved,” according to a report by Deadline.

Affleck and Damon were excited to discuss their new production company beyond this single project. Announced in the fall, Artists’ Equity is meant to be “a creator-focused studio that can optimize the production process with shared participation in the commercial success of projects.” Their announcement calls to mind a viral clip from 2021 where Damon explained his theory of why mid-budget movies are rarely made these days.

Lopez most recently starred in the comedy Shotgun Weddingbut she has three other upcoming projects listed on her IMDb page in addition to Unstoppable. So far she has not commented publicly on the news about Unstoppable or working with Affleck.