Matt Damon is teaming with Oscar-winning director Tom McCarthy for the feature film Stillwater from Participant Media (Green Book). According to Variety, the actor jumped aboard the project in May after which the studio picked it up as a vehicle for McCarthy, who it worked with on the best picture winner Spotlight. McCarthy co-wrote the script with Thomas Bidegain and Noé Debré.
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Per the report, the plot of Stillwater will focus on an “American oil-rig rough neck from Oklahoma, played by Damon, who travels to Mareille to visit his estranged daughter who is in prison for a murder she claims she did not commit.” Damon’s character Bill must traverse language barriers and cultural difference to exonerate his daughter via a complicated legal system, all the while developing a friendship with a local woman and embarking on a personal journey of discovery.
The film will be produced via Participant Media alongside Anonymous Conent, Liza Chasin, Jonathan King, Tom McCarthy and the late Steve Golin. While Jeff Skoll and Mari Jo Winkler-loffreda will executive produce.
“Tom, Thomas and Noé have written a complex, surprising and emotional story, and Tom is crafting a film that asks us to consider how we engage with each other in an increasingly connected buy also fragmented world,” said King & Chasin.
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Once upon a time, Damon very nearly starred in Spotlight, but ultimately passed due to scheduling conflicts. He and McCarthy continued to express interest in working together and the director presented him with the Stillwater script at which Damon quickly jumped aboard.
Damon can next be seen in the James Mangold drama Ford v. Ferrari alongside Christian Bale on November 15.
McCarthy’s most recent project, The Loudest Voice, about the rise and fall of Fox News founder Roger Ailes, premiered on Showtime.
