Steven Spielberg allegedly refused to work with Ben Affleck on a movie partly because of a long-running grudge that stemmed from a holiday pool fight.
Hollywood screenwriter Mike Binder has claimed that Spielberg ‘backed out’ of his 2006 film Man About Town after he wanted to cast Ben Affleck in the lead role.
The 67-year-old said the Jaws filmmaker was initially attached to direct his movie – which was about a talent agent in Hollywood whose diary which contained client sensitive information fell into a journalist’s posession.
However, despite changing his mind about directing, he still encouraged Binder to direct the script himself for Spielberg’s DreamWorks Pictures.
Yet, when Affleck’s name arose for the project, Binder said on the One Bad Movie podcast: ‘I call Steven, Steven 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”.’
According to Binder, the ‘problems’ dated back to when Affleck was dating Gwyneth Paltrow, who is Spielberg’s goddaughter.
Binder claimed that Spielberg’s son ‘pushed’ Affleck into a pool during a family vacation together when he was fully dressed and ‘Ben got really mad at him and he came out of the pool and picked him up and threw him back into the pool, and made my son cry’.
When Binder asked Spielberg why he told him that story, Spielberg reportedly explained: ‘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 Binder then told Affleck’s agent that he couldn’t cast him, the actor immediately asked him whether Spielberg told him ‘I threw his kid in the water’.
After Binder told him ‘no’, Affleck allegedly said: ‘Yes he did! He told you I threw his kid in the water. That’s why I’m not on the movie.’
The screenwriter explained on the podcast that he called Spielberg back saying he wanted Affleck in the film, but despite the Jurassic Park director agreeing to it, the following day DreamWorks dropped the project.
Binder then went on to eventually make the film with Affleck for the independent production company Media 8 and Lionsgate, who released it straight to DVD.
The film, which saw Affleck’s character spiral down the wrong path after his wife has an affair, also starred Jerry O’Connell and Monty Python star John Cleese.
Binder went on to say that he saw the two Hollywood giants hugging at the 2013 Academy Awards after Oscar won the Oscar for Best Picture for Argo, beating Spielberg’s Lincoln.
He said: ‘I text him, I’m watching on the air, I go: “Ben, tonight you could throw Spielberg’s whole family in the pool and get away with it”.
‘About an hour later, the phone rings, it’s Affleck at the Academy… he goes: “That made me laugh so f*****g hard”.’
Metro has approached Affleck and Spielberg for comment.
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