Steven Spielberg refused to make a movie with Ben Affleck because the actor had made his son cry.
Screenwriter Mike Binder has told how he wrote 2006's Man About Town under the belief that the Jurassic Park filmmaker would be at the helm and release it through his Dreamworks company, but Spielberg dropped the project when he found out the Good Will hunting star was on board to play a Hollywood agent.
Mike said on Stephen Baldwin's One Bad Movie podcast: "He said, 'We gotta do something together. I want you to write something for me.'
"At the time, we both lived up in the Palisades, and we were talking about power and struggles, and also he was going through a thing where there was a guy who broke into his house late at night, and was gonna, they found notes. The guy was gonna electrocute Steven, beat him up, and it was just horrible."
Spielberg eventually backed out of directing but wanted to keep Man About Town at DreamWorks with Mike as director.
However, after the Upside of Anger filmmaker made a deal with Ben, Spielberg was unimpressed.
Mike recalled: "We make a deal that he's gonna do it, we shake hands, he'll do it.
"I call Steven, Steven says, 'No. Can't do it with him. We just bombed with a movie with him, he's got that whole J-Lo thing going on now, and I have other problems with him.' "
The E.T. filmmaker accused Ben of fighting with his son on a family vacation when the Accountant star was dating Spielberg's goddaughter Gwyneth Paltrow.
Mike recalled being told: "My son was a little boy, he was playing in the pool, and he got out of the pool, and Ben came in fully dressed, and my son pushed Ben into the pool. And Ben got really mad at him, and he came out of the pool and picked him up and threw him back into the pool, and made my son cry.'
He added: "I said, 'Okay, what does this have to do with anything?'
"He says, 'I just don't like to work with him. Plus his last two movies bombed. Find somebody else. Anyone but him. He's cold as hell.' I said, 'Okay, Steven.'"
Mike told Ben's agents the bad news, and the actor immediately knew what had happened.
The 67-year-old comic continued: "Ben calls me up, he says, 'Did Steven Spielberg tell you I threw his kid in the water? Is that what happened? Is that why I'm not on your movie?'
"I said, 'No, he didn't say—' 'Yes he did! He told you I threw his kid in the water. That's why I'm not on the movie.'"
Mike was keen to still have Ben in the lead role, so told Spielberg his intentions - and DreamWorks dropped the project the following day, with it eventually being released by Lionsgate.
Several years later, Mike watched Ben win the Best Picture Oscar for Argo at the 2013 Academy Awards and reminded him of the row.
He said: "He beats Spielberg [for Lincoln], and he's at the Academy Awards, and they're hugging. And I text him, I'm watching on the air, I go, 'Ben, tonight you could throw Spielberg's whole family in the pool and get away with it.'
"About an hour later, the phone rings, it's Affleck at the Academy [Awards]. He goes, 'That made me laugh so f*****' hard.'"
Mike felt both men "acted like idiots" and "a**holes" over the saga.
He concluded: "I love both these guys, and they're both smarter than me, but they both kinda acted like idiots, and so did I.
"They were great guys, but at the same time, a**holes. They were like everybody else. Steven Spielberg is a genius and a great guy, but he can be an a**hole. And Ben Affleck is a great guy, and he can be a bigger a**hole. But by the same token, both of 'em can go, 'Yeah, I can be an a**hole.' "
