Ben Affleck & Ana de Armas’ film ‘Deep Water’ pulled from theatrical release slate

affleck de armas

You know what we haven’t talked about in recent years? Norbiting. Years ago, Eddie Murphy was Oscar-nominated for Dreamgirls and many thought he was the a shoo-in. Then, in the middle of his Oscar campaign, Norbit was released. Norbit was a then-typical Eddie Murphy comedy, in the vein of Murphy’s favorite comedian Jerry Lewis: slapstick, gags, cheesy comedy. Norbit was seen as un-classy and the film was blamed for torpedoing Murphy’s Oscar campaign. Cut to today: Amazon is going to put money behind an Oscar campaign for The Tender Bar, directed by George Clooney and starring Ben Affleck in a supporting role. I assume there will be money behind Affleck and Clooney both. And as such, no one wants to see Affleck get Norbit’d. Which might explain this:

Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas’s film Deep Water won’t be hitting theaters in January. The thriller was intended for a January 14 release date after previous delays but has been pulled from Disney’s 20th Century Studios’ theatrical release slate, PEOPLE confirms. It’s unclear if the movie will be rescheduled for release on a later date.

The movie, directed by Fatal Attraction’s Adrian Lyne, is based on a 1957 novel by Patricia Highsmith about a married couple in a small town whose loveless marriage only continues due to an arrangement in which the wife can take lovers as long as she doesn’t leave her family. When the husband’s jealousy reaches new peaks, however, he methodically kills his wife’s lovers.

The movie sees exes Affleck and de Armas as the husband and wife of the film, alongside a supporting cast of Tracy Letts, Lil Rel Howery, Rachel Blanchard, Finn Wittrock and Jacob Elordi.

Affleck and de Armas met on the set of the movie and dated for about a year before going their separate ways earlier this year. A movie insider previously told PEOPLE “Their physical chemistry was so intense on set,” adding, “It’s all anyone could talk about.”

[From People]

The fact that the film was set to be released in January tells you that they were already trying to bury it and pretend that the film was never made. The fact that they’re now removing it from the theatrical release slate says something else. It says, to me, that calls were made and no one is trying to ruin anyone’s Oscar campaign by releasing some sleazy drama in the middle of January. The film must be soooo bad. And besides that, of course there’s the relationship drama of it all: Ben and Ana were in love, then they were embarrassed to be seen together and then she dumped him. He wrote love letters to Jennifer Lopez and then we all know what happened next. Of course Ana and Ben don’t want to promote this film together. Of course J.Lo doesn’t want to see Ben side-by-side with his ex. I wonder if there will even be any kind of premiere or promotion for Deep Water! It’s crazy.

Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas are a happy couple!

Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas are a happy couple!

Photos courtesy of Instagram, Backgrid.

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71 Responses to “Ben Affleck & Ana de Armas’ film ‘Deep Water’ pulled from theatrical release slate”

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  1. Lisa says:

    honestly this sounds better than anything ive seen him in though it could be terrible since I think all of his acting is just him being him

  2. Wiglet Watcher says:

    Makes me want to see this film and how bad it really is. My guess is it’s not half bad and certainly not as bad as gili. Rather, this is many people with power looking to bury this film. Affleck, Amazon and JLo are my top 3.

    • B says:

      The last duel was an epic flop. I’m guessing Disney/Fox doesn’t want to make the same mistake again.

    • Carolnr says:

      i think this was not the amicable breakup Ben & Ana wanted the public to believe. i think that neither one can stand to be in the same room, let alone promote a film together! i think both or at least one of them refused to promote this film together! Without the promotion of the film with the 2 major stars, this film would probably bomb. This looked like it was going to be a good movie….it is a shame that they could not pretend ( they are actors. after all!) to get along for the sake of this film! This lack of promotion plus this second virus & people afraid to go to the movies again are probanly why it was decided to pull its release date…
      i think maybe this might have been the conversation that the paps caught of Ben & his Tender Bar castmate….

    • Concern Fae says:

      The problem is the “orphaned” films Disney picked up from Fox in the merger. Disney does not know how to release the adult oriented films with sexual content that the old Fox studio made and released. They did the bare minimum with The Last Duel and ended up with a flop that pissed everyone off, because by all accounts it was a good movie that could have done well if intelligently released.

      I’m guessing Ben does not want a second flop on his hands, especially with the Clooney movie coming out as well, with some awards talk happening for it. Best scenario is some other studio picking it up and giving it an actual release. Or they could dump it on Hulu. But with a star as big as Ben, there are usually contractual requirements as to release. Perhaps they are pulling it to negotiate with him as to what should be done.

      There is also the new prudery to consider. There are quite a few viewers, who seem to skew very young, who find any sexual content in film to be objectionable. I work at a university and professors are noticing it. They grew up hating internet pornography and see sexual content in films and TV as indistinguishable from porn.

  3. Jo says:

    Disney actually did them a favour because this would have bombed in theaters. They will quietly dump it on a streaming service, and Affleck & de Armas will avoid a box office flop. Crisis averted.

  4. milliemollie says:

    Judging by their pap pics, I’m not surprised that their “erotic thriller” is bad.

    • Size Does Matter says:

      Seriously that pic of her laughing? How hard can I secondhand cringe? I think I just threw out my back.

      • milliemollie says:

        She looks like a cackling hyena. There’s no way in hell that Ben Affleck is THAT funny, even if he was unintentionally being funny like saying “My back tattoo looks great!”

      • Jules says:

        She’s “acting”, she’s an actress!

      • Ana170 says:

        She’s not that bad of an actress. She probably just got caught in an unfortunate position. Paparazzi are known for that.

      • SomeChick says:

        an unfortunate position indeed. she looks like she’s pooping!

  5. Queen Meghan’s Hand says:

    My guess is that pulling the film has less to do with quality and more to do with Affleck not wanting to mess up Bennifer 2.0. Ugh, Afflarmas made such a big deal about their dumb relationship and it served neither for the long-term.

    • Jules says:

      The timing is just too convenient, right?

    • Heat says:

      Also, Bennifer 2.0 will play a big role in his Oscar campaign. He doesn’t want to remind us of his BenAna days.

    • whatWHAT? says:

      This, completely. the movie actually sounds like it could be decent, but I agree with your take.

      remember how we all wondered if they’d still be together when the movie premiered, and what might happen if they weren’t? good times.

  6. Case says:

    Yikes, I’ve heard that Ana’s Marilyn Monroe film also turned out horrible and trashy and no one wants to release it. She’s a decent actress; I hope she’s able to find her groove again.

    • milliemollie says:

      No one can be surprised that Blonde’s horrible and trashy. The book is not supposed to be any better. I don’t get why the movie was made in the first place.

    • Jo says:

      Isn’t that rumor from deuxmoi? I saw positive reactions from industry people who have seen it, but who knows?

    • Marietta2381 says:

      I’ve read part of the script. It’s god awful. Lets just say, they most likely will try to bury that one too… And it’s not a rumor from deuxmoi, it’s sooo trashy! This was a fictitious disgusting take on Marilyn’s life and I’m shocked Ana signed up for it and was so gung-ho. I won’t even mention what I read and how bad it was, but man… ugh. After reading it I was disturbed.

      • Jo says:

        That excerpt that was floating around on twitter was taken out of context. I’ve read the whole script (its very easy to find) and it’s absolutely brilliant. One of the best scripts I’ve ever read. The book is apparently a masterpiece but i haven’t read it yet, its so long.

      • Marietta2381 says:

        You and I have very differing opinions on “absolutely brilliant.” We can all have our own opinions. I am a writer as well. I personally would never write a fictitious story about a real person. But that’s just my opinion.

      • Lizzie says:

        Agreed, it was completely nonsensical and difficult to get through. I thought it was terrible. I think it’ll translate terribly on screen as well. Marilyn fans will hate it and anyone involved with it. There’s a reason it took 10 years to make with multiple actresses dropping out of the project.

  7. Monica says:

    Whoa this is messy.

  8. Bettyrose says:

    She looks like his daughter. I’m not new around here. I’ve seen plenty of old guys dating very young women, but there’s something just especially icky in those pictures.

  9. Gigi says:

    That’s the first explanation I’ve heard that makes any sense.

  10. Coco says:

    J.Lo would be stupid to have a problem with Ben being photograph by Ana. He was married before, he’ll they both were married before and have kids with other people.

    Given Ben history sound more like Ben was cheating on Ana with J.Lo and that’s why no one wants to do promotions for the movie.

    • Simmons says:

      The timeline of these two relationships are way off. It’s not even worth speculating on this front. It is very obvious Ben Affleck and George Clooney pulled off a power move. He definitely won’t want a flop movie to derail his award season campaign.
      That WSJ Magazine cover story he did just a few days ago made it clear to his adversaries in Hollywood that they better back off, else their legacy is in danger should he write a memoir, because considering his narratives either because of his professional life or personal one, many people will want to read it.

  11. Lory says:

    Maybe they realized it was another GIGLI.

    • lola says:

      Lol! To be fair Gigli was a unique flop because of the whole Bennifer circus and it being the early 2000s. Hollywood is more forgiving now.

  12. Loca says:

    I liked Ana in Knives Out and Bond. She will do fine …sometimes the movie doesn’t pan out. Ben definitely loves latinas. I love him and JLo together they make sense. She is vivacious and has a positive family behind her. I think this tends to help Ben’s depressive soul. He needs laughter and a woman that likes to go out try new things…isn’t afraid of bad press and paparazzi. I wonder why you never hear or see of JGarner and her supposed boyfriend or taking trips, church, spending the holidays together 🤔… questionable

  13. Lena says:

    Ben will NOT be nominated for any Oscar. If I’m wrong please call me out. But I’m not wrong. And neither Ben nor JLo have the clout to bury this movie.They are actors not movie executives. This movie had a lot of previews which apparently were not good but if anyone here has seen it please let us know because now I’m dying of curiosity. I saw the trailer and it made no sense to me. I think Ben just wanted to be in this to hit on Ana deArmas. I think they’ll dump it on steaming like they did with woman in the window. And By the way @Loco not everyone is an attention ho.

    • Sudie says:

      I’m with you @Lena. Reading the comments and I’m thinking…wth. Yes, Ben is considered A list actor but still doesn’t have the clout to tell movie executives to bury a movie! If the executives thought they could make money off this movie, they would put in theaters and could care less about a romance between two of it’s stars. Money and nothing but money is behind their decision to axe the movie from theaters.

      • whatWHAT? says:

        while you may absolutely be right (money trumps all), consider also that Ben is not just an A-list actor, he’s also an A-list/Oscar-winning director, so he does have SOME clout.

        he can threaten them with “I’ll never work with this studio again” kind of thing.

      • Karisma says:

        @Whatwhat
        I agree. And wasn’t Ben announce as the director of some disney movie earlier this year?
        I don’t think he was necessary the one behind the movie being pulled from theaters but let’s not act like Ben doesn’t have some clout.
        I don’t really believe the Oscar theory because I don’t think he’s getting nominated and he must knows it, he was everywhere when he wanted that Oscar for argo or even the way back, except the wsj itw I’m not seeing him do much for the tender bar maybe because the movie is rotten on RT

    • Simmons says:

      Ben is more than just a movie star. In fact, his greatest value almost has nothing to do with his acting, or even directing & writing, though they are connected. You see, because of other hats he’s wearing, he got deep connections to Warner Bro’s talent pool. In fact, years ago, industry trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter did an analysis on why they cast Ben as the next Batman even after Ben’s beloved protector Jeff Robinov lost his bidding to succeed as the new Warner Bro CEO and was just newly cast out. They concluded that they couldn’t offord to slight him, because he actually was Warner Bros’ signature star. It’s a very rare status nowadays because studio’s star system has been dead for years. Over the years, Ben’s writer and director identity has been helping Warner Bros build a very decent talent pool. Should he leave, Ben will make sure he would take out a chunk of that talent pool and Warner Bros just couldn’t offord to lose. Plenty of commentators have been saying that Ben probably would have been a studio executive, had he not been an actor. That comment is not for nothing. Oh, and he and Matt Damon’s production company is actually in the Warner Bros Studio headquarters. They didn’t move out even after he was replaced by Robert Pattison as the new Batman. Over 2 years Warner Bros was trying to replace him from 2017 to 2019, but they never dare to kick him out of Warner Bros, even after his fair few of scandals post divorce. There is a readon for that. I suspect there is the same reason why Disney wants to court him. There are just too many studio politics involved for the past few years.

      • ElleE says:

        @Simmons that is interesting info. I wondered if some of his power (he def has the kind of leverage only a few enjoy, like maybe Tom
        Cruise in his heyday ?) comes from some alliance he has with his brother. Casey Affleck has never made a bad movie, like Jerry was a good movie and it was just 1.5 hours of him and Matt Damon in the desert. Actually , Casey Affleck makes really, really good movies and I personally find him to be slightly sinister as I can’t get over his portrayal of that cop that was a serial killer😳
        Do they have a production company together too?

      • Simmons says:

        Casey Affleck is a small fish. Despite him trying to distance himself from Ben publicly so that he isn’t accused of being enjoying nepotism, Ben & Matt are still his protectors. There is a reason why he suddenly dared to let paparazzi take photos of him with a new girlfriend 23 years of his junior, he knows the worst of the past few years have passed. And sure enough we see very little negative reportings from that.
        Still, Casey belongs to the core membership of their powerbase that are Ben, Matt, and George Clooney, just because of close connections. The next generation of this group includes that Jim guy in Office, his wife Emily Brunt, Jensen Anckle from Supernatural, that Lucas guy who played Casey’s nephew in Manchester by the Sea. And a lot of other actors, actresses you see in Ben’s films over the years, or screenwriters and directors Ben brought in for Warner Bros. And of course Hollywood executives that are behind the scenes.

      • Simmons says:

        Oh, and Chris Evans isn’t in that group, even though he tried to court them (his twitter @Ben about wanting to see Tom Brady), Ben gave him the opportunity by retweeting, but it seems he let it go, possibly because he was afraid of close connection to them when Ben’s reputation was tarnished, and we all know CE cares too much about his instagram fanbase, ie his greatest asset.
        I also don’t think Mark Wahlberg belongs to that group either. He made some unsubtle shade comments about Ben and Matt in the past. Maybe because he is Catholic Irish, whilst the Afflecks and Damon are actually WASP (Damon’s father was a stokebroker, and his mother is a university professor; Afflecks’ mother was born on the Upper East side of New York City and went to Harvard for BA and MA) in a true sense, despite their working class Boston persona they try to personify onscreen or offscreen.

    • Simmons says:

      As for your speculation on his intention on Ana de Armas where you accused him of join the cast so as to be with her, that is just way off the mark. I’ve been saying a lot but I will still say this: there are a lot of behind the scenes plot regarding the Ana de Armas business. I can only detect some surface level stuff by gleaning tidbits of information from Gossip Cop. But what I gleaned already blew my mind. There are quite a few household names involved in this plot.

      • Sudie says:

        I had no idea that Gossip Cop was still around and more so, that anyone would believe anything from that rag. That place is no better than National Enquirer.

      • Simmons says:

        Lowbrow gossip rags have their own use in the grand scheme of tabloid eco-systems. For example, you don’t normally see celebrity feud piece in People or US Weekly, because once they publish it, the bridge is burnt. But publish in OK or Radar or as you were saying National Enquirer, celebrities can assume the deniablity whilst they attack each other, or even want to convey something that they don’t want too much publicity or let other people know.
        Case in point, National Enquirer published that Jeff Bezos affair leak with Lauren Sanchez that triggered Jeff Bezos’s security detail a blood hound for the culprits. It also published the stripper story that marked the end of Bennifer 1.0.
        As for convey something, Ben is known to use these low brow pags to pursue JLo in the downlow in the past few years when she was still with ARod. It’s definitely not when he only started to write love letters to her in February this year after he heard about ARod’s cheating with the Bravo reality star. That’s why it is much more fun to read gossip cop write-ups that is supposedly to deny these reportings. It is supposed to read with the opposite intention in mind.

      • Jules says:

        @Simmons – I can easily believe this. There is a series on Amazon, blanking on the name but it’s about a PR firm representing celebs. It’s over the top scandalous but also likely based on some fact. These pr firms work round the clock and make shady deals. Just like politics!

    • Joey says:

      Agree with you!!

      • Karisma says:

        @Simmons I don’t totally agree with you. Of course some tips are given to those gossips rags once in a bluemoon, even a stopped clock is right twice a day. But the difference with the official celebrities go to go sources is that when they don’t have material they just make stuffs up it’s why they are untrustworthy most of the times. And I don’t know about Ben using those to pursuit jlo but I do know her camp leaked a video of bennifer 1.0 private moments to radaronline in 2015 when his divorce was announced

      • Simmons says:

        Oh, Ben pursued her alright. He even unintentionally made an enemy of a very big pop star in the process.

  14. blairski says:

    In the future, when a movie star dates his younger co-star, and then the breakup means that he doesn’t want to do the promotion for the movie, will they call it “Being Deep Water’d”?

  15. Karisma says:

    There is no way that movie is that bad isn’t it? Adrian lyne hasn’t done a movie in 20 years I would have been really curious to see the results.

  16. Marigold says:

    Maybe her career will recover but I’m not sure. I didn’t like her after she dated him. Yet I’m fine with him and JLo. I don’t know why. If JLo was dating him for the first time, I might feel the same way about her I guess. He just seems so gross.

    • Coco says:

      Why don’t you like her ?

      Did you not like J.Lo after she was dated and was engaged to him the first time around?

  17. Bella says:

    I loved the movie The Talented Mr. Ripley which was a Patricia Highstreet novel and so was the movie Carol with Cate Blanchett. The Tender Bar is such a great, great, book! I hope they don’t ruin it!!!

    • Lena says:

      Yes it’s a shame BOTH movies seem to be stinkers. And deep water never had a trailer (looks like the one I saw was fan produced), or even released any photos. Weird but I think the Ben stans on here saying he did it are in fantasyland. I think it simply got deep 6’d by Disney when they bought out Fox and are now sending all Fox movies to Hulu.

  18. Lizzie says:

    Test screenings, both before and after the reshoots, yielded poor results in terms of audience reactions. I read about this even before the deux posts about it. Any movie that is shipped to January aka one of the “dump months” is not good. This will probably be quietly released on a streaming service with little to no promo. At least not by Ben or Ana.

  19. TIFFANY says:

    It’s this their way of saying this is Gigli Part Deux 😀.

  20. JennyF says:

    I’ve seen her in two films and think she is campy and kind of a bad actress. I don’t get the buzz with her.

  21. Linny says:

    I wonder if Jlo pulled a string or two on that one? I always thought Ben’s fascination with Ana was just a JLO clone and now he is with Jen; interesting year for Ben

    • Lena says:

      She not at all a JLo clone. One happens to be Cuban and the other Puerto Rican-American , but other than their Latin heritage, nothing at all. That’s a bit of “they’re all alike” insulting.

  22. J ferber says:

    I read the book and it’s excellent and creepy as hell. I could see Hitchcock having filmed it. I’d actually like to see the film, honestly. I suspect that Affleck sucked in it because I really just don’t see him as a versatile or even a good actor. I think he’s lucky as hell though. If you’ve seen The Talented Mr. Ripley with Matt Damon (a much stronger actor), you’ll get the vibe. Patricia Highsmith wrote that one, too.

  23. Kristen says:

    You know what’s hilarious? Ben was pictured at the Lakers game a few days ago with his long-time friend Sean Bailey-the president of production at Walt Disney Studios.

  24. Kristen says:

    Ben received praise for his performances in The Tender Bar and The Last Duel. Ridley’s film may have disappointed at the BO, but it got critical acclaim and was listed as one of NBR’s top ten films (National Board of Review). House of Gucci didn’t get good reviews.

  25. Isabella says:

    House of Gucci is making money, though.

    The Last Duel is the second flop
    In a row for Matt Damon.

    • Kristen says:

      Yes, but making money doesn’t = quality. I saw House of Gucci once and have no desire to revisit it. Acting aside, the writing and editing are crap. I would have walked out if my friend hadn’t been with me.

  26. Christina says:

    As a commented before me said, Adrian Lyne hasn’t made a movie in 20 years and it’s quite a big deal that he finally made one. He’s my favorite director and I’ve been waiting for this one for years. I know it’s going to be good and I am so so so sorry it won’t get the visibility it deserves and needs.