Matt Damon pulls no punches when discussing the idea of revisiting his Oscar-winning film, “Good Will Hunting.” He believes a sequel would be nothing more than a shameless money grab, and he’s not alone in this sentiment.
“Damon didn’t mince words when expressing his opinion about a ‘Good Will Hunting’ sequel,” said the actor, best known for roles in blockbusters like “The Bourne Identity.” According to Damon, a second film just for the sake of profit would be “f***ing shameless.” He even humorously pointed out that a sort-of sequel already exists. “We did the sequel in ‘Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back,'” Damon told Empire. “I think that’s as far as it’ll ever go. We’re not interested in doing a sequel to that; the movie has a very definite end.”
The scene Damon refers to is a parody in “Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back,” where he and co-star Ben Affleck reprise their roles from “Good Will Hunting.” Despite the jokes, there’s been genuine interest in a proper sequel, even decades after the original film. Damon revealed to Variety that someone recently pitched “Good Will Hunting 2″ to Ben Affleck. “I s*** you not — that happened,” said Damon. Affleck confirmed, albeit somewhat jokingly, saying, “Matt is always telling stories that he should not be telling.”
The star went on to assure fans that a sequel to “Good Will Hunting” is not in the cards. But it’s worth noting that the original film could have been very different. Initially conceived as more of an action movie, Damon and Affleck drastically changed its direction over time. And they weren’t the only ones with alternate visions. Michael Mann, the director of “Heat,” was once considered for “Good Will Hunting,” but his take was so divergent that it left Damon and Affleck puzzled.
Mann’s version, as Damon recalled on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, involved Mexican gang members and seemed to stray too far from their vision of South Boston. “He showed us clips of Mexican gangs and said, ‘this is your movie!’ We were like, ‘What??’” Affleck and Damon were equally confused. “We looked at each other and thought, ‘What the f*** is going on?’ That’s not the movie we wrote,” said Damon.
So, there you have it. While various versions of “Good Will Hunting” could have existed, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck remain firm in their stance that the story told in the original is complete. For them, any attempt to sequelize it would be, in Damon’s own words, “just f***ing shameless.”
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