This article appears in the new issue ofhere.In 2016s The Accountant, Ben Affleck played Christian Wolff, a man on the spectrum whose genius with numbers made him the go-to accountant for criminal organizations looking to launder money or find out whos stealing from them. Hired by a seemingly legitimate company to audit their books, Chris found himself drawn into a web of intrigue that involved an innocent bookkeeper (Anna Kendrick), a U.S. Treasury agent named Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), her own slippery boss (J.K. Simmons), and ultimately Chris estranged brother Braxton (Jon Bernthal), a security expert who comes into conflict with his sibling.Directed by Gavin OConnor, The Accountant was released by Warner Bros. Pictures and became the definition of a sleeper hit. A mid-range adult dramawhich is increasingly a rarity in Hollywoodit grossed $155 million off a modest $44 million budget, making a very decent return on investment. And yet, its taken nine years for OConnor, screenwriter Bill Dubuque, and Affleck to get The Accountant 2, the middle entry in a proposed trilogy, up and running, thanks in part to unforeseen events like COVID and the 2023 writers and actors strikes, but also the peculiarities of studio politics and decision-making.It turns out that Amazon MGM Studios ran the numbers and came up positive, giving The Accountant 2 a home at last. The movie promises more of the same combination of action, intrigue, mystery, and quirky character drama that made the first film a viewer favorite, with Bernthal, Addai-Robinson, and Simmons all coming back in addition to Affleck, though as we see in the trailer, one of those characters doesnt make it very far into the movie. Gavin OConnor explains that and more about the sequels journey to the screen when we catch up with him.The original movie was the kind of mid-budget adult crime drama that has become very hard to make in the last few years. Yet it got out there and people enjoyed it.I was very happy to see that people responded, but what I didnt expect was the life after it came out in theatershome entertainment and streamingwhere people just seemed to really respond to the movie. It was just a different type of action thriller, and its just such a unique, original character,that I think people responded to that.Did that post-theatrical life help in terms of making this sequel come to fruition?It was a rollercoaster trying to get it made. We finally got a deal with Warner Brothers to get Bill to write a second movie. That took two years it was so odd to us because the movie was in that mid-range budget and performed really well, so we were very surprised why there was hesitancy. But we were hammers on a nail, refusing to give up. In the end, we were able to extricate it from Warner Brothers.They were generous enough to let us leave and take it to Amazon, which felt like the right place for a number of reasons, starting with the fact that a lot of our friends that were at Warner Brothers when we made the first one were now at Amazon, so they knew the [first] movie intimately.Did you keep in touch with the cast to make sure that they were still interested?I always knew everyone was going to come back. We all had a really fertile creative experience making the first movie. Jon and J.K. are in my life as friends, so I wasnt worried about bringing them back. The hard part, to be honest with you, was breaking the news to J.K. that his character, Ray King, dies. Which is no secret. Its in the trailer. I had to break that news to J.K. and explain to him why, which was that obviously I wanted to make it personal for Chris and Marybeth.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!Watching the trailer, I was a little surprised to see that in there.We tried, man, we tried. But I mean, beyond that, do you know what the movie is about from watching the trailer?Only that theyre trying to find out what Ray King was doing that led to his death.Thats all you get! That was the goal and it was really tough to do without giving that one piece of information away, but we were protecting everything else beyond that.What can you say about where we pick up with the characters?The challenge was that every year that went by, I had to justify why Chris and Brax havent seen each other in so long. We were constantly massaging that. It makes it easier when one characters on the spectrum and the other one lives an itinerant lifestyle, so we started to work all that out. What never changed and what was important to me in building the script was that I wanted the key in the ignition to be that Ray gets killed, and let that sort of tentacle into a much bigger story.I also wanted to build a movie around human trafficking. Since 2018, thats been really important to me, and I just wanted to be able to shine a light on that. But that also came with its own complications because it becomes very tricky to be dealing with this kind of heavy subject matter and also trying to make a fun, entertaining movie, so we were walking a tightrope there. And then I guess lastly, the puzzle aspect of the movie was really tricky to do because if its too easy, you dont need Chris to come in and figure it out. And if its too complicated, the audience is going to check out of the fucking movie.It seems like Chris and Brax are much more of a team in this movie.The movie very much is about Chris and Brax, and how they have to fix it with each other. That was always the intention in the second movie. And then the third movie is going to be what I call Rain Man on steroids. Its just the two brothers. We dont know exactly what happens yet [in it], Bill and I have ideas, but the third movie is going to start with the two brothers together and were off to the races. Weve always been building the franchise in that direction.Youve worked with Ben now on three movies in a row (Accountant 1 and 2 and The Way Back). What makes you two simpatico creatively?I can remember Ben saying to me, before we made the first one, I like your taste. I feel like we have similar taste. And I think what he meant by that, which I agree, is that he and I have, just artistically and as storytellers, just a similar aesthetic. We trust each other artistically. For me as a storyteller, it actually starts with the performances. So I think that Ben understands and appreciates that and trusts that were not only going to find and explore the character, but create something that just feels honest and truthful and grounded. So theres just a lot of work going into the characters and performance.The Accountant opens in theaters on April 25 and premieres at SXSW on March 8.