All About Matt Damon & Ben Affleck’s Gay Baseball Romance Movie That Never Got Made
Gay sports dramas are all the rage lately — well, one gay sports drama in particular. Heated Rivalry has become such a hot topic that it’s being brought up left and right on red carpets and in celebrity interviews. In fact, Andy Cohen mentioned the Crave show during a conversation with Matt Damon.
The SiriusXM radio host asked Damon about growing up with his The Rip costar Ben Affleck, wondering if they played hockey together as teenagers. “Like in Heated Rivalry,” Cohen quipped during the January 14 interview.
Laughing, Damon explained that they played Little League Baseball together. “I don’t know if you’ve read The Dreyfus Affair. It’s a different sport,” Damon said, his reference impressing and surprising Cohen. The actor continued, “We almost made it years ago. The script just wasn’t good enough, but the story is — the book was great.”
What is The Dreyfus Affair: A Love Story about?
It didn’t take long for the exchange to go viral on social media, with one top X comment pointing out that the scrapped project “could’ve been the second Brokeback Mountain.” While Peter Lefcourt’s 1992 novel The Dreyfus Affair does cover a gay romance in the sports world, that’s pretty much where the similarities with Heated Rivalry end.
@siriusxm Matt Damon did not come to play with his diet for The Odyssey 🤯 Hear more from his conversation about this year’s highly anticipated Christopher Nolan release with @andycohen at the link in the comments! #SiriusXM #MattDamon #TheOdyssey #AndyCohen #ChristopherNolan ♬ original sound – siriusxm
Unlike Shane and Ilya, The Dreyfus Affair‘s main characters play on the same team, with a star shortstop and married father of two falling for a second baseman. Described by the author as “darkly comic look at homophobia in baseball,” their ensuing romance effects their lives, families, and team as they gun for the World Series Championship.
Will The Dreyfus Affair: A Love Story still get made?
The adaptation has been in the works for decades. Damon’s mention of it is the latest The Dreyfus Affair update since May 2020. Universal Television optioned Lefcourt’s novel for a television series, per Deadline. The Devil Wears Prada‘s David Frankel was announced as director, co-writer, and executive producer, with Lefcourt sharing those last two titles.
Universal wasn’t the first to grab the rights to the adaptation. Almost 20 years ago, Variety reported that producer Andrew Lang was on board, with Lefcourt once again writing the script. The outlet noted that The Dreyfus Affair was first optioned in 1992 and had bounced around a few different networks, including Disney, Fox, and New Line. Frankel was attached to the New Line version of the project.
In the wake of Heated Rivalry’s success, do you think The Dreyfus Affair makes it out of development limbo? Let us know in the comments below!
