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Spoiler alert: today’s topic may catch you off guard — a crime movie, well outside my usual territory. But stay with me, and you’ll soon understand why it turns out to be far more interesting than it sounds.

When The Rip, the gritty crime thriller starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, arrives on Netflix in a few days, on January 16, 2026, it won’t just be notable for its high-octane plot and star power. Behind the scenes, the movie is generating buzz for a potentially industry-shaping deal between the film’s producers and Netflix — one that ties crew compensation to the movie’s success in its first 90 days on the streaming platform. 

Directed by Joe Carnahan and produced through Affleck and Damon’s company Artists Equity, The Rip centers on two Miami police officers whose discovery of hidden cash triggers a complex web of distrust and moral compromise. Alongside a strong ensemble cast that includes Steven Yeun, Teyana Taylor, Sasha Calle, and Kyle Chandler, the movie blends action and character drama. 

But it’s the business side of The Rip that may have the biggest impact on Hollywood’s evolving economic models. Traditionally, Netflix — unlike legacy studios — has avoided “back-end” participation (profit shares) and residuals, favoring large upfront fees instead. This has been a longstanding point of contention in the industry, particularly with talent and guilds who argue that creative crews rarely see rewards proportional to a hit’s long-term success. 

For The Rip, Affleck and Damon negotiated an exception. Under the new arrangement, Netflix has agreed to establish a one-time bonus pool that will be distributed among all cast and crew — nearly 1,200 people — if the film achieves certain performance benchmarks within its first 90 days on the service. This performance will be evaluated against other Netflix releases, and although exact metrics haven’t been disclosed, multiple tiers of success are reportedly built into the plan. 

(C) Netflix

The idea, as Affleck has articulated, is to foster fairness and align incentives across the entire production. “This deal is fundamental to the ideas we had when we started the company,” he said, pointing to Artists Equity’s mission to push for equitable structures in content creation. 

For Netflix, which has faced scrutiny over compensation norms as it expands its content empire — including a massive acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery — the deal is a sign of flexibility with high-profile collaborators. Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s chief content officer, noted that the streamer wasn’t “dogmatic” about sticking to one compensation model and was open to innovative approaches when the partners involved made a compelling case. 

If The Rip performs well — and if this model proves sustainable — the bonus structure could provide a template for future streaming deals that reward not just stars and creators, but every person who helps bring a film to life, and Affleck, Damon and Netflix could be rewriting the rules of crew compensation.

(Photos from Netlix)