An article by Far Out Magazine revisits a rocky period in Matt Damon's career during the early 2000s, when a string of box-office flops nearly derailed the momentum he had built since his breakout in Good Will Hunting. Despite early successes working with directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg and Anthony Minghella, Damon fronted three costly failures within a short span, leaving him, in his own words, "cold as ice" in Hollywood.

The films in question were the animated feature Titan A.E., which flopped so badly it contributed to the closure of its studio, along with The Legend of Bagger Vance and All the Pretty Horses, neither of which recouped their budgets. Damon has said the failures caused his phone to "stop ringing" and left The Bourne Identity looking like a further potential disaster, though that film ultimately revived his career. Steven Soderbergh, who later cast him in Ocean's Eleven and The Informant!, stood by him throughout the slump.