Netflix’s ‘The Rip’ Can Redeem Ben Affleck’s ‘The Accountant 2’

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are working together again on a new Netflix crime thriller. The film, called The Rip and directed by Joe Carnahan, could boost Affleck’s reputation after his 2025 action sequel didn’t receive the attention it deserved. The trailer shows Affleck and Damon playing cops who find themselves in a complicated situation involving shifting allegiances and a lot of money.

Ben Affleck is returning to the world of crime thrillers, a genre where he’s found success with films like The Town and Triple Frontier. He recently starred in a sequel to 2016’s The Accountant released in early 2025, reprising his role as Christian Wolff. While The Accountant 2 received positive reviews, it didn’t achieve the same popularity as the first movie and was considered an overlooked thriller of the year. However, his new thriller could draw more attention to his previous work, including The Accountant 2.

‘The Accountant 2’ Deserves More Recognition


Amazon MGM Studios

In The Accountant, Ben Affleck played Christian Wolff, a highly intelligent character with autism who was also a skilled fighter. He worked as a certified public accountant but secretly worked as a hitman. The sequel follows Christian and his brother, Braxton (played by Jon Bernthal), as they get caught up in a dangerous situation, using their deadly skills to attempt a heroic rescue.

Reviewers generally liked The Accountant 2, highlighting the strong connection between Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal and praising the film for being more intense than the first. It currently has a 75% ‘Fresh’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and audiences seem to enjoy it even more, giving it a score of 92%. However, the sequel didn’t make as much money as the original The Accountant. While the first film earned $155 million worldwide on a $44 million budget, The Accountant 2 cost nearly double to make—around $80 million—but only grossed $103 million, which was a disappointing result.

Viewers who saw The Accountant 2 enjoyed its exciting action, but the film struggled at the box office due to strong competition. Released in April 2025, it faced a tough challenge from the already popular Sinners, which maintained remarkably high viewership in its second week. The Accountant 2 also underperformed against the re-release of Revenge of the Sith for its 20th anniversary, and only slightly outperformed A Minecraft Movie after four weeks in theaters.

Ben Affleck Is Getting Another Chance With ‘The Rip’


Netflix

As a big fan of crime thrillers, I’m really excited about The Rip – it’s great to see Ben Affleck back in this kind of role! He’s playing a cop this time, which is a nice change, and honestly, this movie feels like it could really get the stalled Accountant 2 project back on track. Director Carnahan clearly knows his way around a dark, gritty police story – remember Narc? He’s kept that vibe going with films like Copshop. And even better, Matt Damon’s along for the ride with Affleck! They’re both thrown into this really dangerous world where it seems like the cops around them might be more of a problem than the criminals.

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Unlike The Accountant 2, The Rip is skipping theaters and going straight to Netflix, which gives it an advantage – it doesn’t need to perform well in cinemas to be considered successful. With a strong cast, the thriller is expected to be popular on the streaming platform when it arrives in January, and its success will be judged by how many hours people watch it, not by ticket sales. The Accountant 2 gained attention on Prime Video after its cinema release, showing there was interest, but it was released at the wrong time. While we’ll have to wait for reviews, The Rip is likely to be a big hit for Netflix, and Ben Affleck is poised to show why he excels in this type of film.

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2026-01-02 02:03