Affleck Reworked 'Animals' Script to Avoid Spike Lee Comparison
Ben Affleck said he changed the Netflix thriller's script after finding it too similar to a Spike Lee and Denzel Washington project, according to Screen Rant.
Ben Affleck reworked the script of his Netflix thriller Animals after discovering it was similar to a project by Spike Lee and Denzel Washington, according to screenrant.com. Affleck directed, co-wrote and stars in the film alongside Kerry Washington.
In Animals, Affleck and Kerry Washington play married couple Mark and Abigail Kimball, whose son gets kidnapped.
Affleck said he did not want to compete with or be compared to Spike Lee and Denzel Washington, which prompted the script changes.
Kerry Washington was the first actor cast in Animals, followed by Gillian Anderson, Steven Yeun, Luis Gerardo Méndez, and Adriana Paz. Matt Damon served as a producer on the film.
Overlap With Lee's 2025 Film
In 2025, Spike Lee released Highest 2 Lowest with Denzel Washington, which has plot similarities to the original Animals script. Lee and Washington have previously collaborated on films including Mo' Better Blues, Malcolm X, He Got Game and Inside Man.