Ben Affleck or Matt Damon: Who’s Made More at the Box Office?
Today, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are A-list actors and are some of the highest-paid in Hollywood. You often don’t think of one without the other. They burst onto the scene together in 1997 with the release of Good Will Hunting, a movie they co-wrote and starred in. That film won them an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and permanently linked their names.
Since then, they’ve been in more than a dozen movies together, but who’s been in more films overall? Here’s the answer to that as well as a few other things you might not have known about the best friends, including who’s older and who’s brought in more at the box office.
What’s their age difference and who’s been in more films?
Affleck was born Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt on Aug. 15, 1972, in Berkeley, California. His family moved to Falmouth, Massachusetts, when he was 3 years old. He and his parents lived there until shortly after his brother, Casey, was born and then settled in Cambridge, where he eventually met Damon.
Matthew Paige Damon was born on Oct. 8, 1970, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, making him just one year and 10 months older than Affleck.
Damon and Affleck both had minor roles and film projects as teenagers. But it wasn’t until Good Will Hunting that their careers on the big screen exploded.
As for who’s been in more films to date? That would be Damon. He’s been in just over 80, and Affleck has been in just over 70. Affleck has done more behind-the-camera work with directing and producing during his career. His roles in front of the camera have made a whopping $4.1 billion at the global box office. But Damon has made even more with leading roles in several flicks that dominated the worldwide box office, raking in an eye-popping $5.6 billion.
Who has a higher net worth?
Affleck acted prolifically in the late 1990s and early 2000s, sometimes in high-profile hits and sometimes in critically panned projects. But over time, he balanced more work as a director, writer, and producer as well. However, he still took on major acting roles later in his career–most notably as Batman in the DC Extended Universe.
Damon’s post–Good Will Hunting trajectory leaned heavily into acting, especially as a leading man. He became a fixture in major franchises and prestige projects alike, including the Bourne series, the Ocean’s films, Saving Private Ryan, and The Martian. He has been pretty consistent, appearing in films almost every year for decades, often in starring roles.
The two founded the production company Pearl Street Films, which produced Manchester by the Sea, and later launched Artists Equity, a production company that shares profits with crew members.
When it comes to net worth, Damon has his buddy beat there too. He’s worth $170 million, while Affleck is worth $150 million per Celebrity Net Worth.
