Daniels sci-fi movie gets a wild tease from Matt Damon
Damon told Dan Patrick the Daniels’ Universal film mixes teen drama, dream logic, anime and John Oliver, with production expected this year.
By Bianca Rossi · Entertainment Editor
3 min read
Matt Damon has given the Daniels sci-fi movie a very Daniels-style elevator pitch: part detention-room classic, part dream-bending thriller, part anime, part unaired John Oliver segment.
The actor discussed the upcoming Universal film during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, where he described how directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert sold him on the project. Damon said they pitched it to him as “if ‘The Breakfast Club’ meets ‘Inception’ meets an anime film meets an episode of ‘The John Oliver Show’ that didn’t get aired.”
Damon, who is set to star in the film, added that fans of the duo’s Oscar-winning chaos-comedy Everything Everywhere All at Once should have a good idea of the temperature. He said that if viewers liked that movie’s “wildness” and “heart,” he thinks they will respond to the new one too. He also called it “a really special project.”
What is the Daniels sci-fi movie about?
Plot details for the Daniels’ new sci-fi film have not been revealed in the reporting. The clearest description so far is Damon’s genre mash-up from The Dan Patrick Show, which points to a movie with teenage ensemble energy, reality-warping ideas, animation influence and satirical bite.
Variety reported that production is expected to start in Los Angeles later this year. The outlet also reported that the film is set up at Universal and that its release date was moved from June 12, 2027, to Nov. 19, 2027.
Who is in the Daniels sci-fi movie?
According to Variety, the cast includes Matt Damon, Sandra Oh, Charles Melton, Michael Gandolfini, PinkPantheress, Sean Kaufman, Silvia Dionicio, Jackson Kelly, Kerrice Brooks and Thalia Dudek.
The film is the next feature from Kwan and Scheinert after Everything Everywhere All at Once, which Variety reported earned more than $100 million at the box office and won seven Academy Awards, including best picture.
That film starred Michelle Yeoh as a laundromat owner facing an IRS audit who learns she must connect with alternate-universe versions of herself to stop a catastrophe. Before that awards-season run, Kwan and Scheinert made their feature directing debut with 2016’s Swiss Army Man, a fantasy comedy starring Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe, with Radcliffe playing a flatulent corpse.
The duo, known professionally as the Daniels, also gained attention for directing the viral music video for Lil Jon’s “Turn Down for What,” according to Variety.
What did Damon say about Jason Bourne?
Damon also gave a brief update on another franchise familiar to his fans. Speaking on The Dan Patrick Show, he said director and writer Edward Berger has sent him the first act of a new Jason Bourne movie, a project Variety said has been in development since 2023.
Damon said the material “looks really good” and that he is “very hopeful” it will happen. He added that both he and Berger agree any new Bourne film has to live up to the standard of the first three movies in the series.
“If we really feel like we’ve got a shot at doing something great, I’m all in,” Damon said. “I love that character.”
This story draws on original reporting from Variety.