"Completely Pulled It Apart": How The Instigators Ending Changed From Director's Note Explained By Casey Affleck

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Casey Affleck explains how The Instigators director Doug Liman changed the ending, saying he "completely pulled it apart." Directed by Liman, with a script co-written by Affleck and Chuck Maclean, the upcoming heist comedy follows two thieves who go on the run after a botched robbery and drag one of their therapists along with them for the ride. Matt Damon and Affleck lead the star-studded alongside Oscar nominee Hong Chau (The Whale) as the therapist and Paul Walter Hauser, Michael Stuhlbarg, Ving Rhames, Alfred Molina, Toby Jones, Jack Harlow, and Ron Perlman.

During an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, Affleck explained how Liman came aboard and changed The Instigators ending. The star says the script underwent significant rewrites, particularly influenced by the director, who "completely pulled it apart, especially at the end of the movie." Read his full comments below:

And then you know, two years later, I sent it to Matt and Lucy, and then the process really began of rewriting and rewriting with everyone else in mind as they came on board, and with their input and their ideas. And no one more so than Doug, who completely pulled it apart, especially at the end of the movie. He said, "This just won't work. If you want to make a movie like this, you got to, it has to be different, and here's how." And he was right, so the third act of this movie used to be more like Midnight Run. And Doug said, "It's just got to get bigger, the stakes have to get higher. Visually, there have to be more opportunities for a sort of a big movie feel." I didn't really know a lot about that, it's not how I approached writing or filmmaking, in general. So, I learned a lot, and at every turn, there was a part of me that I felt like was going against my own creative grain. But I just totally trusted him, and he was right every single time.

More to come...