Affleck is also set to direct the film, which Damon departed due to shooting conflicts with Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey. Oscar-nominated screenwriter Billy Ray (Captain Phillips, Richard Jewell) will co-write the screenplay with Connor McIntyre.

The project has been revived with Affleck still in the director’s chair. But he will now star in it as well. Gillian Anderson, the X-Files star who in recent years appeared as Margaret Thatcher in Netflix’s The Crown, is also joining the production. As before, the project aims to shoot in Los Angeles and is looking at an April start.

Ben Affleck is set to star in his upcoming Netflix thriller “Animals,” which he’s also directing. His longtime friend Matt Damon was originally slated to lead the film but had to depart due to scheduling conflicts with Christopher Nolan’s upcoming epic “The Odyssey.