--- ---  # Matt Damon and Ben Affleck Reunite for FIFA Scandal Movie by [Nina Terrero / Entertainment Weekly](https://time.com/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Nina Terrero / Entertainment Weekly Updated: Dec 14, 2023 11:36 PM UTCPublished: Jun 26, 2015 7:01 PM UTC  Ben Affleck and Matt Damon at the 28th Santa Barbara International Film Festival in Santa Barbara, Calif. on Jan. 25, 2013. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon at the 28th Santa Barbara International Film Festival in Santa Barbara, Calif. on Jan. 25, 2013.Rebecca Sapp—WireImage/Getty Images by [Nina Terrero / Entertainment Weekly](https://time.com/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Nina Terrero / Entertainment Weekly Updated: Dec 14, 2023 11:36 PM UTCPublished: Jun 26, 2015 7:01 PM UTC Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are teaming up to bring the FIFA soccer scandal to the big screen, adapting the upcoming book _Houses of Deceit_ by Buzzfeed reporter Ken Bensinger. As first reported by [_The Hollywood Reporter_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/bookmark/fifa-scandal-ben-affleck-producing-805295)_,_ Warner Bros. picked up the rights to _Houses of Deceit,_ which will be produced by Damon and Affleck’s production company, Pearl Street Films. EW has confirmed that Gavin O’Connor (_Warrior_) is set to direct the film, reteaming with Affleck in their first project [since wrapping up ](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/05/19/ben-afflecks-accountant-gets-jan-29-release)[_The Accountant_](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/05/19/ben-afflecks-accountant-gets-jan-29-release)_. Warrior_ screenwriter Anthony Tambakis is attached to script. Entertainment 360’s Guymon Casady and Darin Friedman will also produce. News of the deal ends a studio bidding war for_Houses of Deceit_, which Bensinger hasn’t even been published yet. Based on a [2014 article](http://www.buzzfeed.com/kenbensinger/the-rise-and-fall-of-chuck-blazer-the-man-who-built-and-bilk#.ug6V7eOd1) by the Pulitzer Prize finalist that delves into the story of former American FIFA executive Chuck Blazer—who in 2013 admitted to accepting millions of dollars in kickbacks and bribes over the course of 20 years—the book has been picked up by Simon & Schuster and is slated for publication sometime in 2017. Though no casting decisions have been made, Bensinger says he envisions Blazer being portrayed by someone like John Goodman, whom he says would bring “fury and comedy to the role.” The story of Blazer’s involvement in a high-profile bribery scandal showcased the dark underbelly of soccer, revealing illicit corruption throughout the international body. At one point, Blazer used his position of influence to finance a Trump Tower apartment in Manhattan—[just to house his cats](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2015/05/27/ex-fifa-official-had-6000-a-month-trump-tower-apartment-for-unruly-cats/). The New York native later cooperated with authorities in an in-depth investigation, and in May of this year, the [70-year-old pleaded guilty to 10 charges](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/28/sports/soccer/chuck-blazer-a-soccer-bon-vivant-laid-low.html) including wire fraud, money laundering, racketeering, and income tax evasion. “I love the con-man story and just love that this is about a very strong sense of good and bad,” Bensinger says. “There’s not a lot of ambiguity about how these people behave. The IRS and FBI, and all these people who sort of did the good work and brought down something that was untouchable, because the power of FIFA internationally is unbelievable. It’s as if you combined the MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL into one organization.” _This_ [_article_](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/06/26/ben-affleck-matt-damon-fifa-soccer-scandal-movie) _originally appeared on_ [_EW.com_](http://www.ew.com) Movie: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck to Make FIFA Scandal Film ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3938405/damon-affleck-fifa-movie/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3938405/damon-affleck-fifa-movie/"},"headline":"Matt Damon and Ben Affleck Reunite for FIFA Scandal Movie","datePublished":"2015-06-26T19:01:59.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-14T23:36:30.000Z","description":"Houses of Deceit tells the story of disgraced FIFA executive Chuck Blazer","url":"https://time.com/3938405/damon-affleck-fifa-movie/","keywords":["movies","Matt Damon","Soccer","Ben Affleck","FIFA"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt83390ab8a0c995b3/698858ad5f570f0a9eb1c325/matt-damon-ben-affleck.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nina Terrero / Entertainment Weekly"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt83390ab8a0c995b3/698858ad5f570f0a9eb1c325/matt-damon-ben-affleck.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ben Affleck and Matt Damon at the 28th Santa Barbara International Film Festival in Santa Barbara, Calif. on Jan. 25, 2013.","caption":"Ben Affleck and Matt Damon at the 28th Santa Barbara International Film Festival in Santa Barbara, Calif. on Jan. 25, 2013.","creditText":"Rebecca Sapp—WireImage/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3938405/damon-affleck-fifa-movie/","name":"Matt Damon and Ben Affleck Reunite for FIFA Scandal Movie"}}]}] ```