Insiders Say Steven Spielberg Won’t Team Up With Ben Affleck — The JLo Angle Was Just a Distraction

File this under: Hollywood grudges you don't expect to involve a swimming pool. Filmmaker Mike Binder says a long-ago dust-up between Steven Spielberg and Ben Affleck almost torpedoed his movie 'Man About Town' before it even got going — and the way it played out is surprisingly petty for the people involved.

The setup: Spielberg loves Binder's last movie, wants to team up

Binder says Spielberg was a big fan of his 2005 film 'The Upside of Anger' and reached out about collaborating next. They kicked around ideas about power and paranoia — Spielberg was dealing with someone breaking into his house at the time — and Binder wrote a project for him. The plan: Spielberg would direct and produce it at DreamWorks.

Then Spielberg stepped back from directing but stayed on to produce. Around the same time, Ben Affleck saw 'The Upside of Anger' and told Binder he wanted in on the new movie — fully aware Spielberg would be producing.

Then the pool story hits the fan

According to Binder, he took Affleck's interest to Spielberg — and got a hard no. Spielberg allegedly said he and Affleck had just flopped on a recent movie, didn't love the tabloid glare from the JLo era, and had 'other problems' with him. That's where Binder says Spielberg shared a very specific incident: years earlier, when Affleck was dating Spielberg's goddaughter Gwyneth Paltrow, they were all in Spain. Spielberg's young son pushed a fully dressed Affleck into the pool. Affleck, upset, got out, picked up the kid, tossed him back in, and the boy cried. Spielberg, per Binder, decided right then he didn't want to work with Affleck — and added that Affleck's last couple of films had bombed and he was 'cold as hell.'

Binder told Stephen Baldwin on Baldwin's 'One Bad Movie' podcast that he respects Spielberg, but thought the reasoning was childish. Baldwin, understandably, sounded stunned hearing it.

"Did Steven Spielberg tell you I threw his kid in the water? Is that why I'm not on your movie?" — Ben Affleck, per Binder

How it almost killed 'Man About Town'

Binder says he had to call Affleck's agent and say he couldn't hire him. Affleck then called Binder directly with the line above. Binder turned around and pushed Spielberg to cast Affleck anyway. For a moment, it sounded like Spielberg relented.

Not for long. Binder says Spielberg's agent phoned soon after to say DreamWorks was dropping the project altogether. With that support gone, the movie nearly died on the spot — until Lionsgate picked it up and put it out straight to DVD.

Where they landed afterward

Binder says the tension eventually cooled when Affleck's 'Argo' won Best Picture over Spielberg's 'Lincoln' — a moment that, somehow, smoothed things over. Binder even joked to Affleck that, after that, he could probably shove Spielberg's whole family in the pool and still be fine.

They don't see eye to eye on streaming either

Years later, they ended up on opposite sides of another industry debate. In 2019, Spielberg — then a governor at the Academy — argued that Netflix-style releases should be in the Emmy lane, not the Oscar race. Affleck publicly took the other side, saying streamers were shaping the future of how movies are made and seen, and that the job is the job whether the logo says Netflix or a traditional studio.

The quick timeline

• 2005: Spielberg loves 'The Upside of Anger' and develops a new project with Binder at DreamWorks; he later bows out of directing but stays on to produce.
• Affleck wants to star; Spielberg refuses, citing a recent flop with Affleck, the JLo-era tabloid glare, and an old pool incident in Spain involving his young son.
• Binder tells Affleck he's out; Affleck calls; Binder pushes back to Spielberg; Spielberg briefly seems to agree, then DreamWorks drops the movie.
• Lionsgate rescues it and releases 'Man About Town' straight to DVD.
• 2013: 'Argo' beats 'Lincoln' at the Oscars; Binder says that helped thaw things.
• 2019: Spielberg pushes back on Netflix at the Oscars; Affleck defends streaming.

Where to watch

'Man About Town' is currently streaming on Fubo and on Starz via Apple TV.