Ben Affleck’s Animals Is Only Weeks Away from Breaking A 3-Year-Long Record For The Actor

mpi099/MediaPunch/INSTARimages Published Sep 6, 2026, 9:15 AM EDT Zoë Miskelly is an editor and second in command for Screen Rant's Movies team, having covered the entertainment industry for almost 10 years now. Zoë's love of superheroes and all things Marvel & DC started out in childhood, and has blossomed into a career getting to talk about some of the biggest and best movies and shows of all time, having previously focused on comics while working at WhatCulture. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Ben Affleck's newest movie is only weeks away from its upcoming debut, and the film is set to break a 3-year-long record in terms of how it fits into the actor's wider film roster. Over the years, Ben Affleck has been in a wide assortment of the most famous movies of all time, ranging from Good Will Hunting to the likes of the DCEU timeline due to his casting as Batman. This trajectory has seen Affleck become a household name, particularly because he's shown proficiency taking on a range of different roles, be that the morally complex lead of crime thriller Gone Girl, or in more lighthearted releases like the Clerks movies. It seems like this roster is only set to keep expanding, too, as Ben Affleck has played a role in a solid number of films over the last few years as well. The newest addition to this roster - which is set to debut soon - is also one of the actor's most interesting in recent history, both because of the story it's set to tell over the course of its run, and because of the way that it interacts with the wider filmography of Ben Affleck overall, as well as how it can bring a side of Affleck's career to audiences who may be less aware of the roles Affleck has had in a range of major films outside of acting within them. Animals Sees Ben Affleck Serve As The Movie's Star & Its Director The upcoming 2026 thriller movie Animals, which is set to release on October 9 on Netflix and in select theaters, is a major installment for Ben Affleck fans. The film's story centers around the kidnap of the son of Los Angeles mayoral candidate Mark Kimball, with none other than Affleck himself taking on this role. With that said, though, playing Mark Kimball isn't the only major role Ben Affleck has when it comes to the movie and its production. Indeed, Affleck is also notably the director of Animals, meaning the overall movie and its story are even more intrinsically tied to his creative vision. Interestingly, this will mark the first time in three years that Ben Affleck has directed a major feature-length movie, with the last film before this being that of 2023's Air. Given Air is a decidedly different film - being a sports comedy-drama, rather than a crime thriller - it will be fascinating to see how these two films are both similar and different, and how Animals adds to Ben Affleck's wider filmography. Animals Is A Perfect Continuation Of Ben Affleck's Wider Career Though it's understandable that Ben Affleck is best known as an actor to the general public - since his role as the DCEU's Batman cemented his already famous filmography as being even more of a pop culture cornerstone of sorts - his role as a writer, producer, and director means his work in the world of film is far wider than acting alone. Indeed, some of the most notable movies Ben Affleck is attached to have involved this wider range. For example, Affleck was famously a writer for Good Will Hunting, and served as a director and producer for 2012's Argo, alongside acting in central roles in both of these releases. As such, Animal is all the more interesting in terms of being a display of Ben Affleck's acting talents alongside his directorial skills, which should both serve to help make the movie have extra layers of intrigue due to its notable place in Affleck's broader filmography, and how it highlights the different ways in which Affleck has contributed to the films he's worked on over the years.