Hollywood stars Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are making a significant gesture to the crew of their latest film, ensuring that its financial success is shared far beyond the usual top-tier talent. For their new Netflix crime thriller The Rip, the duo's production company has implemented a profit-sharing model that will provide back-end bonuses to all 1,200 crew members involved in the project.
A New Model for the Streaming Age
The longtime friends and collaborators, who both star in and produced the film through their company Artists Equity, explained their decision during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Affleck, 53, noted the changing landscape of the film industry, where the traditional box office performance metrics used to trigger bonuses have become less relevant with the rise of streaming platforms like Netflix.
"What we wanted to do was try to adapt that model to what's happening on streaming," Affleck stated. He emphasised their belief that a movie's quality is a collective effort, saying, "We really believe that it's not just the cast and the writers and director, but that the environment, every single person involved... It's really a collaborative art form."
How the Bonus System Works
The model ties crew bonuses to the viewership performance of The Rip on Netflix. Affleck explained that "the more people that watch [the movie] the more levels it will hit," directly benefiting everyone from camera operators to standby painters. The pair joked with host Jimmy Fallon about the implications, with Damon quipping, "The more you guys watch this movie…" and Affleck adding with a laugh, "You would never say to turn on the movie and put it on loop. But if you happened to do that, crew members would make a lot of money."
The film, directed by Joe Carnahan and released on Friday 16 January 2026, sees Affleck and Damon reunite on screen as Miami cops who discover a huge stash of cash, leading them to distrust everyone around them.
Continuing a Collaborative Mission
This move is a direct application of the core mission of Artists Equity, the artist-led studio the pair founded and launched in 2022. The company was created to replace their former Pearl Street Films and is specifically focused on ensuring a film's profits are shared with all contributors. Their latest project demonstrates a practical commitment to this principle on a large scale.
Affleck and Damon, whose collaborative history includes Oscar-winning Good Will Hunting and last year's Air, are betting that fostering a motivated, invested crew will result in a better final product. By extending financial rewards to the entire production team, they are reviving an old-school Hollywood incentive for the modern digital era.
