Ben Affleck Scrapped Original 'Animals' Plan Over Spike Lee and Denzel Washington Rival Movie

Ben Affleck is opening up about how his latest directorial effort almost did not see the light of day. The Oscar winner's sixth feature film behind the camera, *Animals*, is officially making its debut on Netflix. However, the finished suspense thriller looks radically different from the project he originally set out to make. The intense story revolves around a prominent Los Angeles mayoral candidate and his wife who are forced to navigate a nightmare scenario when their son is kidnapped. In the beginning, Affleck intended to work strictly as the director without stepping in front of the camera. He recruited two major stars to headline the picture: his creative partner Matt Damon, alongside Jennifer Garner. Affleck shared that he was thrilled about bringing out unique, unseen sides of both actors through their roles.

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Production was just a few weeks away from starting when Affleck received a phone call that flipped everything upside down. He learned that another project with a nearly identical premise was already in production elsewhere. Even more daunting was the talent behind the rival title: director Spike Lee and acting legend Denzel Washington were teaming up for Apple's *Highest 2 Lowest*. Facing the prospect of launching a similar story alongside two iconic industry powerhouses, Affleck made the decision to pull the plug. He acknowledged that he had zero interest in trying to compete against a Lee and Washington collaboration. With that realization, he shut down the production and set the script aside.

BUZZBEAT

Even after shelving the movie, Affleck found himself unable to let the narrative go. The core idea continued to linger in his mind for months until he ultimately chose to revive the film and give it a massive creative overhaul. Restarting the engine was not entirely smooth sailing, however. Because of the production delay, Damon was no longer available and had already committed to another acting commitment. That scheduling conflict forced Affleck to completely rethink his strategy for the feature film, reshaping the project into the final version that audiences can now stream on Netflix.