When Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck tied the knot, they thought they’d stay together forever. The couple first fell in love in the early 2000s. Unfortunately, they ended their engagement in 2004. Despite their loving reconnection nearly 20 years later, they couldn’t make their romance work. Lopez filed for divorce in August 2024. Now, according to insiders, the production of Affleck and Matt Damon’s next film has slowed because of the hiccups in Affleck’s personal life.
Ben Affleck’s next film has ‘slowed’ on production due to his divorce from Jennifer Lopez
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon formed their film company, Artists Equity, in 2022. The best friends love working together and have since produced movies like Air, The Instigators, Small Things Like These, and Unstoppable. Affleck and Damon are working on a crime thriller titled RIP — but Affleck’s personal life might be getting in the way of timely production.
“With Ben’s divorce and everything going on in his personal life, production on the film has slowed, and there’s no release date at the moment,” a source told Page Six. “They’re still working on the project, but there’s not a firm deadline with any of it.”
Affleck is putting his nose to the grindstone for his film projects while he and Lopez go through their divorce proceedings. A source told In Touch Weekly that he’s “throwing himself into work” as a “healthy escape” from his personal life. While he and Damon are reportedly “working on a few different projects,” they mainly focused on the new Netflix crime thriller.
“Things just haven’t been progressing as quickly as they initially planned,” the insider continued.
Most recently, Damon, Affleck, and Jennifer Lopez promoted their film, Unstoppable. Lopez played a key role in the film produced by the best friends. Affleck said Lopez was “spectacular” in the film. However, when Lopez was asked about working with Affleck, she refused a direct answer.
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have experienced ‘setbacks’ with their divorce
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck likely hoped for their divorce to move as smoothly and quickly as possible. Unfortunately, the couple didn’t have a prenup when they tied the knot in 2022. This has made dividing their assets more difficult. Not only that, but the exes are trying — and failing — to sell their Beverly Hills mansion.
“Part of the reason that Ben agreed to play nice and go to these joint mediations was to try and get things settled as soon as possible,” a source told In Touch Weekly. “But they weren’t counting on these setbacks, particularly with the sale of their house.”
While Lopez and Affleck hoped to rid themselves of their mansion “quickly,” it’s “just not happening, and it’s a huge pain because it’s going to involve a ton of red tape and essentially until that’s sold, they can’t settle the divorce.”
The ‘Gone Girl’ star has been ‘leaning on’ his best friend, Matt Damon
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have been friends since childhood. While Affleck might be having difficulty with his stressful divorce from Jennifer Lopez, there’s no doubt that Damon is there for him.
“Ben is sad about it all but focused on his work, being a great dad and co-parenting well with Jennifer Garner,” a source told OK! Magazine in June 2024. “He has been leaning on Matt Damon and his close circle of guy friends. Matt is always in Ben’s corner and is supportive of him.”
In 2023, a source alleged that Damon didn’t approve of Lopez for his best friend. “Matt’s had serious reservations about Bennifer 2.0 since the beginning,” the insider noted. “He’s tried to be publicly supportive for Ben’s sake, but the fact is he hates the way J.Lo treats his buddy and can no longer hold his tongue!”
Despite this second insider, Lopez and Damon seemed close during an Unstoppable premiere, as they sat with each other and talked closely. It seems more likely that Damon and Lopez are amicable after her split from Affleck.
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