Matt Damon and John Krasinski are teaming up on their third movie together after 2012’s Promised Land, which they co-wrote and starred in, and Manchester by the Sea in which they were producers. The duo are now working together on The King of Oil, which finds Damon starring in the role of disgraced billionaire businessman Marc Rich.
Joe Shrapnel & Anna Waterhouse will adapt Daniel Ammann’s book The King of Oil: The Secret Lives of Marc Rich, which centers on the wealthy hedge fund manager and commodities trader who in 1983 was indicted on 65 counts including tax evasion. Rather than stay to face charges he fled the country and never returned. On the final day of his presidency Bill Clinton controversially pardoned Rich, who would later die in 2013 at the age of 78.
Damon is in talks for the lead role while Krasinski is only set to produce at this point. However, there’s still a chance he could eventually direct. Krasinski is red-hot right now after writing and directing A Quiet Place, and he’s set to star as agent Jack Ryan in Amazon’s upcoming Tom Clancy series. Damon is coming off the dual disappointments of Suburbicon and Downsizing, so he could use a change of pace. [Deadline]
