Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Oscar-winner Ben Affleck is set to star in as well as direct the new Netflix movie, Animals. He will also produce the film alongside his frequent collaborator Matt Damon, the streaming service announced Thursday. The X Files and The Crown alum Gillian Anderson has signed on to co-star.

Affleck is also set to direct the film, which Damon departed due to shooting conflicts with Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey. Oscar-nominated screenwriter Billy Ray (Captain Phillips, Richard Jewell) will co-write the screenplay with Connor McIntyre.

Affleck, who produced via his and Damon's company Artists Equity, called the movie a "really fun, engaging ride that keeps you guessing. It’s a compelling, complicated human drama that also hues to these elements of cinema that people have loved forever."

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Ben Affleck makes a change to the casting list of Netflix project Animals. By the way, if you are wondering if Nolan is trying his hand at the Homer tale, he is. There is no borro