Matt Damon wasn’t planning to work after The Odyssey — then the Daniels called with something “out there”
Matt Damon says he’s eyeing a breather from acting once his current projects are wrapped — but first there’s an enigmatic new film you’ll want to hear about.
If there’s anyone who deserves a bit of time off, it’s Matt Damon. He’s coming off a barnstormer with Christopher Nolan’s big adaptation of The Odyssey this year, and you’d think he’d be booking a long holiday. Instead, he’s squeezed in one more gig — and not just any gig, but the latest fever dream from the Daniels (that’s Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, if you’re still catching up).
Principal filming on the Daniels' next sci-fi comedy, now starring Damon, began in LA in early September 2026 under the codename Thasnagar.
The lure of the Daniels
Damon sat down recently with GQ, who asked him bluntly whether he’d be having a breather after The Odyssey. He admitted, quite plainly, that he didn’t actually plan to take another job so soon. In his words, the Daniels just rang him up, pitched something mad, and he couldn’t turn it down.
Here’s how Damon described what changed his mind, relaying his response in the interview:
'They had this project that was so out there, and it was such a Daniels movie, and it's so different from anything I've ever been able to do that I couldn't pass it up.'
Damon sounded genuinely enthusiastic about the Daniels’ bonkers approach, calling the film a 'cosmic love bomb for the world' and making it clear the energy they brought convinced him it was the right kind of chaos to sign up for, even if he’d sworn off anything after The Odyssey. He hasn’t said what the film’s actual title is — for now it’s just moving under the working name Thasnagar, which sounds like a planet from a B-movie but isn’t the worst title they could end up with.
Cast drama and new faces
This untitled project is said to be full-on science fiction with a generous splash of action comedy — basically, about what you’d expect from the oddballs behind Swiss Army Man and Oscar winner Everything Everywhere All at Once. Back in March 2026, Ryan Gosling was quietly attached to star, but he dropped out a few months later, supposedly because of scheduling problems, not because he’d finally realised quite how weird the Daniels get. Damon stepped in after Gosling’s exit.
The ensemble Damon’s joined is anything but boring. Among the cast: Sandra Oh, Charles Melton, Sean Kaufman, Silvia Dionicio, Jackson Kelly, Kerrice Brooks, Thalia Dudek, Michael Gandolfini and John Leguizamo. If that’s not enough, you’ve got pop star PinkPantheress jumping in for her first try at a feature film performance — genuinely curious to see how that plays out.
Shooting kicked off in Los Angeles at the start of September, and yes, a few snaps of Damon on set have already hit the web, in case you wondered if he’d gone method for the Daniels and started turning up in bedsheets or something. Damon’s gone on the record that once this one’s in the can, he’s planning a proper break. Whether Hollywood lets him disappear for long — we’ll have to see.