Is ‘Triple Frontier’ the Start of a Ben Affleck Comeback?

I’m just going to say it: the trailer for Netflix’s new film Triple Frontier is sexy. You’ve got Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam, Garrett Hedlund, and Pedro Pascal playing elite special forces going rogue to steal money from a super nasty drug lord. The trailer is backed with tension, glorious jungle locations, and, oh, yeah, Ben Affleck. The superstar has been on something of a downward lurch for the past few years, battling the demons of addiction, divorce, and dismal box office returns, but this high octane Netflix movie could change all that. Triple Frontier could mark the start of Ben Affleck’s latest comeback.

Ben Affleck’s career is full of the kinds of stumbles that would otherwise sink a star for good. He starred in an appallingly bad Daredevil movie, has struggled with all kinds of addictions, and became known for kissing Jennifer Lopez’s ass in one of her music videos. But for all his self-destructive tendencies, Affleck is also really good at pulling himself back from the brink. In years past, he’s reinvented himself as an Oscar-winning director, a loving family man, and proven himself, time and time again, to be one of the best actors of his generation.

So it should come as no surprise that Affleck dominates the Triple Frontier trailer. It’s his character who sets up the stakes for the other actors, suggesting that he’s going to be the leader in the field. He’s the one ordering around Oscar Isaac and Charlie Hunnam, and that’s important. The cast of Triple Frontier is stacked with beloved actors, but Affleck is being positioned as the Alpha. And it makes sense. Even though Isaac has the most heat on him in the group, Affleck is still the biggest movie star among them. He should be the leader of this highly pedigreed pack. After all, he is the Oscar-winner, the storied superstar, the guy who’s played Batman.

He’s also the one who might have the most to gain from Triple Frontier‘s success. Isaac is a bonafide star as is, Hedlund and Hunnam have been stuck in a B-list holding pattern for years that they’re not likely to break out of, and Pascal’s big moment is going to likely come from Disney+’s The Mandalorian. Affleck is a superstar, but he needs to remind people of that. What better way to do so than by playing a charismatic leading man — a veteran, a father, a hero — in a flashy Netflix premiere? Netflix movies are no longer seen as straight-to-video rejects. They are Oscar contenders and pop culture hits.

Triple Frontier has everything it takes to be a 2019 hit flick: prime placement on Netflix, a gripping story from Zero Dark Thirty‘s Mark Boal, and a brilliant director behind-the-scenes. The question is will it be a big enough hit to give Ben Affleck the alley-oop he needs to get back to the top?

Triple Frontier is set to premiere on Netflix in March 2019.