Filmmaker Steven Spielberg declined to collaborate with Ben Affleck, and the reason behind this decision is surprising.
Spielberg’s refusal stems from an incident where Affleck reportedly made his son cry. Screenwriter Mike Binder revealed that he wrote the 2006 film ‘Man About Town’ with the understanding that Spielberg would direct it and release it through his DreamWorks company. However, the project was abandoned when Spielberg learned that Affleck was set to play a Hollywood agent.
During a conversation on Stephen Baldwin’s ‘One Bad Movie’ podcast, Mike shared, “He said, ‘We gotta do something together. I want you to write something for me.’ At the time, we both lived up in the Palisades, and we talked about power and struggles. He was also dealing with a situation where a guy had broken into his house late at night with plans to harm him. It was just horrible.”
According to reports, Spielberg ultimately decided not to direct but wanted to keep ‘Man About Town’ at DreamWorks with Mike as director. However, after Binder struck a deal with Affleck, Spielberg was not pleased.
Mike recounted, “We make a deal that he’s gonna do it, we shake hands, he’ll do it. I call Steven, and he says, ‘No. Can’t do it with him. We just bombed with a movie with him, he’s got that whole J-Lo thing going on now, and I have other problems with him.’”
The filmmaker recalled an incident during a family vacation when Affleck and his son had an altercation. “My son was a little boy, playing in the pool, and he got out. Ben came in fully dressed, and my son pushed Ben into the pool. Ben got really mad, picked him up, threw him back into the pool, and made my son cry.”
Mike questioned the relevance of the incident, to which Spielberg replied, “I just don’t like to work with him. Plus, his last two movies bombed. Find somebody else. Anyone but him. He’s cold as hell.”
When Mike conveyed the news to Ben’s agents, Affleck immediately understood the situation. The 67-year-old comic shared, “Ben calls me up, saying, ‘Did Steven Spielberg tell you I threw his kid in the water? Is that why I’m not on your movie?’ I said, ‘No, he didn’t say.’ He insisted, ‘Yes, he did! He told you I threw his kid in the water. That’s why I’m not on the movie.’”
Despite Mike’s desire to keep Affleck in the lead role, he informed Spielberg of his intentions. The next day, DreamWorks dropped the project, which was eventually released by Lionsgate.