Why Ben Affleck canceled plan to cast Jennifer Garner in his new movie

Ben Affleck's latest movie was nearly a reunion with ex-wife Jennifer Garner.

The "Gone Girl" star, 54, revealed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that he was planning for Garner to star in his latest directorial effort, the kidnapping thriller "Animals." But after they mutually agreed on a change of plans, he wound up recasting the role with Kerry Washington.

Garner would have played the wife of the lead character, who was originally set to be portrayed by Matt Damon.

"I thought, God, Jen Garner would be amazing for this role," Affleck told EW. "It also has the added benefit of, like, both of us will see our kids more because we do a week and a week and back and forth. I thought, well, we can coordinate our schedules around it."

But things changed after Affleck pulled the plug on the movie just two weeks before production was to start because he learned Spike Lee was working on his own kidnapping thriller, the Denzel Washington starrer "Highest 2 Lowest," and he feared the two films were too similar.

Affleck decided he wouldn't make the movie, but a few months later, he had a change of heart and decided to…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/entertainment/