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8 months ago
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EXCLUSIVE: Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal, J.K. Simmons, and Cynthia Addai-Robinson have locked deals to return for The Accountant 2, the sequel to the Gavin O’Connor-directed action thriller The Accountant, on which Amazon MGM Studios has teamed with Affleck and Matt Damon’s Artists Equity.
Also set to return is O’Connor, who directs from a script penned by the original film’s screenwriter, Bill Dubuque. Artists Equity serves as the studio for the sequel and set the pic up at Amazon MGM after acquiring sequel rights from Warner Bros. This will be the companies’ fourth project together after the chart-topping Jennifer Lopez doc The Greatest Love Story Never Told, Golden Globe-nominated sports marketing drama Air, and the upcoming Unstoppable, based on the true story of wrestler Anthony Robles.
Grossing $155M worldwide in its 2016 theatrical release before going on to become the most-rented digital film of the subsequent year, the first Accountant starred Affleck as a highly skilled CPA with autism who leads a double life as a forensic accountant for criminal organizations. When his Christian Wolff uncovers discrepancies in a legitimate robotics company, he must navigate a dangerous web of deceit while staying one step ahead of both the law and his criminal clients.
Bernthal played Christian’s security company operator brother Brax, with Simmons as Ray King, the Director of the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Addai-Robinson took on the role of Marybeth Medina, an up-and-coming Treasury agent tasked with unearthing The Accountant’s real identity.
The sequel’s plot is thrust into motion when Medina’s former boss is killed by unknown assassins, and she’s forced to contact Christian to solve the murder. With the help of his estranged but highly lethal brother Brax, Chris applies his brilliant mind and less-than-legal methods to piece together the unsolved puzzle. As they get closer to the truth, the trio draw the attention of some of the most ruthless killers alive — all intent on putting a stop to their search.
Affleck and Damon are producing for Artists Equity, alongside 51 Entertainment’s Lynette Howell Taylor, and Mark Williams. Exec producers include Artists Equity’s Dani Bernfeld, Kevin Halloran, Michael Joe, and Alison Winter. In addition, Scott Lastaiti and Jamie Patricof serve as EPs.
Affleck is coming off of Air, the drama examining Nike’s groundbreaking business deal with the NBA’s Michael Jordan on the Air Jordan shoe line. In addition to directing the acclaimed feature for Amazon MGM, he starred opposite Damon as Nike co-founder Phil Knight. Upon the pic’s SXSW world premiere, it went on to gross over $90M, more recently securing Affleck the Gotham Awards’ inaugural Visionary Icon and Creator Tribute. Earlier this year, Affleck found his next project behind the camera in Animals, a kidnapping thriller for Netflix that Damon will lead, with both producing.
Most recently seen in Ava DuVernay’s Origin and FX’s The Bear, Bernthal has also over the last couple of years led the series American Gigolo and We Own This City. Next, he’ll reprise his role as Frank Castle aka The Punisher in the Marvel series Daredevil: Born Again for Disney+.
On the film side, Simmons’ most recent notable credits include Spider-Man: No Way Home, STX’s National Champions, and Aaron Sorkin’s Oscar-nominated Amazon pic Being the Ricardos. Upcoming projects for the actor include Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2, Amazon’s holiday event film Red One, and Netflix’s action thriller The Union with Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry, to name a few.
In addition to Amazon’s The People We Hate at the Wedding, Addai-Robinson has appeared on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, as Númenor’s Queen Regent Míriel, as well as shows like Power, Chicago Med, Shooter, and Arrow.
Most recently, O’Connor directed the sports drama The Way Back, starring Affleck, which drew strong reviews, even if its box office was hampered given its launch during the earliest days of the Covid pandemic.
Affleck is repped by WME and Ziffren Brittenham; Bernthal by CAA, Cognition, and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern; Simmons by Gersh; Addai-Robinson by Innovative Artists, Liebman Entertainment, and Felker Toczek Suddleson; O’Connor by WME and Yorn, Levine, Barnes; and Dubuque by CAA and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman.
