Ben Affleck and Matt Damon fans will have to wait a little longer to see the duo’s next collaboration. Netflix has confirmed that The Rip, a high-profile crime thriller starring and produced by the longtime friends, won’t be arriving until next year. The new global release date is set for January 16, 2026, which means what was shaping up to be one of Netflix’s biggest movie events of this year is still more than seven months away.
That’s a bummer, no two ways about it, especially considering the level of talent involved. In addition to Affleck and Damon, The Rip also features a star-studded ensemble that includes Steven Yeun, Kyle Chandler, Teyana Taylor, Catalina Sandino Moreno, and Sasha Calle, and its director is Joe Carnahan (known for gritty action thrillers like Narc and Smokin’ Aces). It’s also being produced by Artists Equity, the creator-driven studio launched by Affleck and Damon in 2022.
Plot-wise, The Rip is inspired by a real-life friend of Carnahan’s — a father and former head of tactical narcotics for the Miami-Dade police department. “It’s inspired in part by his life and … by my enduring love for those classic ‘70’s cop thrillers that really valued the character and interpersonal relationships and became touchstones of that era — films like Serpico and Prince of The City and more recently, Michael Mann’s Heat,” Carnahan told the streamer’s Tudum.
Events in the movie are set in motion when a team of Miami cops finds a huge stash of money hidden in a stash house. That discovery quickly sets off a spiral of mistrust, as both internal and external forces start circling, and loyalties begin to unravel. The title, Carnahan adds, comes from street slang used by Miami cops; a “rip” is the act of seizing contraband from suspects.
In other words, the stakes in The Rip are both personal and professional, rooted in a world where even the good guys can lose their grip on right and wrong.
Carnahan, for his part, has described the experience of working with the two actors-turned-producers as one of the best filmmaking journeys of his career. He credits them not just as studio heads but as collaborators who “backed my decisions every step of the way.” Long story short: The delay may sting, but with the different elements that comprise this film — a mix of 1970s-style cop drama, real-life inspiration, and classic Damon-Affleck chemistry — The Rip still looks like a must-watch. Now we just have to wait a little longer to see it.
