After being paroled, self-taught mathematics genius Will Hunting ofSouth Boston works as a janitor at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and spends his free time drinking with his friends Chuckie, Billy and Morgan. At work, he anonymously solves a complex mathematical problem posted on a blackboard by Professor Gerald Lambeau as a challenge for his graduate students. Later, Will and his friends start a fight with a gang that includes one of Will's childhood bullies. When police intervene, Will is charged with assaulting an officer. Lambeau posts a more difficult problem to test the mysterious stranger and later catches Will writing the solution. Mistaking Will for a vandal, Lambeau chases him off but quickly realizes that he was solving the problem. At a bar, Will meets and flirts with Skylar, a student about to graduate fromHarvard University, with plans to attendmedical school at Stanford.
Lambeau asks the campus maintenance staff about Will's whereabouts, but learns that he did not come to work. He discovers that Will was placed at MIT through a program for parolees and obtains hisparole officer's details. At Will's court appearance, Lambeau watches as Will argues in favor ofpro se legal representation and later arranges for him to avoid jail time, on the condition that he study math under Lambeau's supervision and participate in psychotherapy sessions. Will agrees but treats his therapists with mockery. A desperate Lambeau contacts Dr. Sean Maguire, his college roommate, who teaches psychology atBunker Hill Community College. Unlike the previous therapists, Sean challenges Will'sdefense mechanisms. In the first session, Sean threatens Will after he insults his deceased wife. In the next sessions, Sean encourages Will to open up and Will invites Sean to move on from his wife's death. Will starts dating Skylar but lies to her about his background.
Sean recounts to Will his first meeting with his wife: he saw her at a bar and fell in love at first sight, giving up his ticket to thefamous sixth game of the1975 World Series to his friends by saying he had to go "see about a girl". Sean tells Will that he never regretted that decision, despite the hardships that followed. Will decides to introduce Skylar to his friends. Lambeau sets up several job interviews for Will, but he scorns them. In particular, he turns down a position at theNational Security Agency (NSA) with a scathing critique of the agency's moral position. After Will refuses Skylar's offer to move to California with her, she calls him out for being scared, and he tells her about his past as an orphan and the abuse he suffered at the hands of his foster father. Will breaks up with Skylar and ridicules the research Lambeau had been doing. Sean confronts Will on his fear of abandonment and failure, and invites him to be honest about what he wants from life. Chuckie encourages Will to take the opportunities offered to him, telling him that everyday he hopes that Will will not answer the door, having gone away to pursue a better life.
Will hears Sean and Lambeau argue about his potential, with Sean saying that Lambeau risks ruining Will's future by pushing him too hard. Lambeau leaves, and Sean and Will talk about their shared experience as victims of child abuse. Sean helps Will accept that the abuse he received was not his fault by repeatedly stating, "It's not your fault", causing Will to break down in tears. Will accepts one of the job offers arranged by Lambeau. Sean reconciles with Lambeau and decides to take a sabbatical. For Will's birthday, his friends gift him a car to allow him to commute to work. Chuckie goes to Will's house to pick him up, but happily finds that he left. Will leaves a note for Sean, asking him to tell Lambeau that he had to go "see about a girl".
Actors and screenwritersBen Affleck andMatt Damon met in their hometown ofCambridge, Massachusetts, becoming friends at the age of eight and ten respectively.[7] Years later, Damon started writingGood Will Hunting as a final assignment for a playwriting class that he attended in his fifth year at Harvard, turning in a script of around 40 pages instead of the one-act play requested by his professor.[8] Damon said that only the scene of Will and Sean's first meeting survived verbatim from the first script.[8] He left university after getting a role in the 1993 filmGeronimo: An American Legend and joined Affleck in Los Angeles, bringing with him the script.[8] Damon asked for Affleck's input, leading to the beginning oftheir long-standing creative collaboration withGood Will Hunting.[7][8] Affleck and Damon were inspired to work on the script by directorQuentin Tarantino's success story with the production of his 1992 filmReservoir Dogs, which had been picked up despite him being a store clerk due toword of mouth: Tarantino had talked about the film with producerLawrence Bender, who brought the script to film starHarvey Keitel, whose interest in starring in it led to Tarantino being able to find funding for the film.[9] In Los Angeles, the duo secured small roles in films and commercials, sharing their earnings to sustain themselves while trying to break in the film industry without much success.[9][10]
"In fact [Affleck's] girlfriend at the time was the janitor in my dorm in my freshman year, which made it even more bizarre. So when on Friday night the kids would get too drunk and throw up all over the place, I knew who was going to clear it up and it was someone I considered a friend. That kind of shift came out, I think, in the soup ofGood Will."
—Damon in an interview with film criticTom Shone[11]
Affleck and Damon were inspired by the resentful feelings experienced in their childhood toward students who came to Cambridge to attend Harvard and MIT, taking over the city uncaring of respecting its residents.[11] However, Damon became conflicted after attending Harvard himself, seeing that the students were good-willed and witnessing first-hand the dichotomy between local and college life in Cambridge.[11] Affleck and Damon drew on their families and friends' life experiences for inspiration: Affleck's father and his then-girlfriend worked as janitors at Harvard, Affleck and Damon had worked in construction in the summers, and some of Affleck's father and Damon's mother past experiences informed Sean'sbackground story.[8][11] The duo purposefully wrote Sean's part as one with flexible characteristics, devising it as "the Harvey Keitel part"—meaning a role that suited aHollywood star, giving the character their best lines but little screen time so it could easily fit in a busy schedule.[9][12] Damon said: "It could have gone toMeryl Streep, you know what I mean? We could have done some rewrites and it becomes more of a mother/son relationship. It could have gone toMorgan Freeman... and then you bring in elements ofracial tension around Boston."[12]
Initially, the script dealt with the life of a young self-taught physics genius from South Boston sought after by the NSA for his extraordinary abilities.[8][13] In scenes inspired byMartin Brest'sBeverly Hills Cop (1984) andMidnight Run (1988), the young man and his friends lead the NSA agents in chases around the city, as Affleck and Damon felt they had to include an actionsubplot to make the film commercially appealing.[8][11][14] The duo improvised some of the scenes and recorded them ontape while imitating Freeman andRobert De Niro, who they envisioned playing the roles of the therapist and the professor.[8] Affleck and Damon shared the script with film producerChris Moore, whom they both knew: Affleck had been working with him on the 1995 filmGlory Daze, while Damon had met him in Cambridge.[8] Moore likedGood Will Hunting and decided to help them find a studio to produce it.[8]
The duo completed the script in 1994 and brought it to their talent agent,Patrick Whitesell, who recalled: "I read it over the weekend and I was blown away."[8] However, Whitesell thought it would be almost impossible to find a studio who would produce a film written by and starring two unknown actors, with the only precedent known to him being the 1976 filmRocky, in which previously unknown actorSylvester Stallone wrote the script and starred in the lead role.[8] Affleck and Damon had not yet agreed neither on the title nor on the main character's name, which Damon thought should be Nate.[15] The duo read a script namedGood Will Hunting written by their high school friend Derrick Bridgeman, to whom they promised $10,000 in exchange for using the title if they managed to sell the script.[15] Bridgeman later appeared in the film as a student in one of Lambeau's classes.[15] Whitesell broughtGood Will Hunting to the attention of several studio executives by initially promoting it as aShane Black-style film likeThe Last Boy Scout (1991).[9] Information about the script spread to other Hollywood creative executives in the span of four days, initiating a bidding war.[8] Affleck and Damon acceptedCastle Rock Entertainment's offer of $600,000 in November 1994 at the suggestion of directorRichard Linklater, with whom Affleck had worked on the 1993 filmDazed and Confused.[8][9] After splitting it evenly, both of them spent all of the money in six months, between paying taxes, giving their agents a fee, buying aJeep Cherokee, and renting a party house by theHollywood Bowl for months.[10]
Film director and Castle Rock founderRob Reiner urged Affleck and Damon to focus on either the thriller aspect or the relationship between Will and Sean.[8] In one meeting set up by Castle Rock, screenwriterWilliam Goldman read the script and agreed with Reiner, telling Affleck and Damon to drop the thriller storyline.[14][16] The duo decided to focus on the characters' interpersonal relationship and removed 60 pages of the NSA storyline from the 120-to-130-page script, ending up rewriting it almost entirely.[8] Castle Rock had them rewrite the script several times, but after a year Affleck and Damon began to suspect that studio executives had stopped reading it attentively.[9] To test them, the duo began inserting scenes of Will and Sean having oral sex incongruous to the script, which the executives never mentioned in meetings.[8] Affleck and Damon wanted to direct and star in the film, but the studio did not allow it.[8] After they disagreed with Castle Rock's pick of obscure directorAndrew Scheinman, the studio put the film intoturnaround, asking Affleck and Damon to find another company that would buyGood Will Hunting for $1 million in thirty days.[9] If they failed, Castle Rock would oust Affleck and Damon from the production, going ahead to make the film with another creative team.[8]
Affleck and Damon went back to the studios that they had previously refused.[8] Several executives set up meetings just to tell them that they would not buy the film.[8] Affleck said that one such meeting withInterscope Communications founderTed Field inspired him to write a scene of his 2012 filmArgo.[8] Studio executives wanted to cast more established actors likeLeonardo DiCaprio andBrad Pitt in the lead role, but Damon kept reminding them of Stallone's story, which inspired him not to give up.[9][17] Affleck askedKevin Smith if he would direct the film and bring it toMiramax Films, as Affleck and Smith had worked together on the 1995 filmMallrats and had been developing the 1997 Miramax productionChasing Amy.[8][9][18] Smith said he "wouldn't dare direct" it given its beauty, but brought the script to the attention of Miramax founderHarvey Weinstein.[8] Weinstein liked it, but asked them to remove scenes in which Will played chess and had sex with Sean.[8] In the fall of 1995, one day after reading the script, Weinstein boughtGood Will Hunting from Castle Rock for $1 million, sending the film into production with Affleck and Damon set to star.[8][9] At Miramax, some executives disagreed with his decision; in particular, producerCary Woods had previously turned down Affleck and Damon.[9]
Serving asexecutive producer, Smith recommended to Miramax to let Affleck and Damon directGood Will Hunting, but the studio disagreed.[18][19] Affleck and Damon suggested directorGus Van Sant, whom they had come to know and admire through Affleck's brotherCasey.[9] Miramax sent the script to Van Sant, who said about his first reading ofGood Will Hunting: "Usually when I read a script, after a few pages, I put it down—but this kept me going."[8] He contacted and set up a meeting with Affleck through Casey, with whom he had worked on his 1995 filmTo Die For.[8] However, Weinstein disagreed with Affleck and Damon's pick and set up meetings for them with other potential directors,[8] includingMichael Mann.[18] TheReality Bites (1994) directorBen Stiller refused an offer to direct the film since he had not heard of Affleck and Damon.[20] The duo met with theBraveheart (1995) directorMel Gibson and began developing the film with him for a few months.[8] However, Gibson's drawn-out production lead Damon to ask him to drop out, since he feared him and Affleck would become too old to play their roles.[8] After Gibson agreed, Miramax officially offered the film to Van Sant, but at a quarter of his asking price.[8][9] Van Sant hesitated at the idea of working with Weinstein, having heard of his temper from Tarantino.[9] Van Sant and Weinstein argued overfinal cut privilege, stopping production of the film.[8] Weinstein kept searching for other directors, offering the film to and receiving a refusal fromChris Columbus.[9] Meanwhile, Affleck and Damon moved back to Boston.[8]
"An intelligent guy who admits he's not as brilliant as the kid but who is saying, 'You're brilliant but you don't know shit about certain things'. That appealed to me deeply. What can you give a kid like that? The one thing you can give him is just saying, 'I can only offer you a certain point of view.' It's almost like going though rehab and just trying to say, 'I know who you are, I know who you think you are. Let's try to get down to who you are.'"
After a year, Weinstein assigned Bender to the film and conceded to pay Van Sant's asking price, prompted to resume the production by Damon's casting inFrancis Ford Coppola's 1997 filmThe Rainmaker, based onJohn Grisham's 1995novel of the same name, and film starRobin Williams' interest inGood Will Hunting.[8][9] Damon explained that his casting in an adaptation of a novel by the popular Grisham gave Weinstein confidence of his potential as aleading man, but it was Williams' interest and eventual casting in the film that were pivotal to gettingGood Will Hunting made.[8] Williams had first heard of the film from Coppola, with whom he had collaborated on the 1996 filmJack, and received the script from Van Sant.[9] He became fascinated with Sean's background and attitude towards Will, saying: "It's the same sense I had onDead Poets Society, that there was something really powerful there."[8][21] At the time, Williams' fee was around $20 million per movie, but he lowered it to $5 million and had it written in his contract with Miramax that he would get 20% of the earnings if the film's gross surpassed $60 million, with the percentage growing as the gross kept increasing.[12] Miramax didn't believe it would earn that much, so they accepted.[22]
Bender officially hired Van Sant as the director.[8] Still unsure about the ending, Affleck and Damon talked about it with Van Sant.[23] The duo had originally ended the script with Will's death at the hands of the gang that Will fights at the start of the film, but Van Sant proposed to have Chuckie be killed in an accident on the construction site.[23] Affleck and Damon tried writing his idea of the ending, but scrapped that version after Van Sant read it and disliked it.[23] The duo scheduled a meeting withTerrence Malick, film director and the best friend of Affleck's godfather, who suggested to them to end the film with Will following Skylar to California, instead of them leaving together as they had considered.[11] Affleck and Damon consultedNobel Prize-winning physicistSheldon Glashow to help them write an accurate dialogue, but Glashow insisted that Will be a mathematician instead and introduced them to ProfessorDaniel Kleitman of MIT in the spring of 1997.[13] PhysicistBrian Greene retrospectively explained that physics discoveries are often made by a group, while solving a mathematical theorem can be an individual endeavour.[24] Kleitman and mathematicianTom Bohman gave them a brief lecture and suggested the computer scienceP versus NP problem as one that Will could solve.[13] Kleitman and Professor Patrick O'Donnell of theUniversity of Toronto had small roles in the film and served as mathematics consultants on set, writing the equations on the blackboards shown in the film and coordinating some extras.[13][25]
In early 1997, Bender, Moore, and Van Sant began auditioning actors at theBowery Hotel in New York, castingCole Hauser as Billy but struggling to find performers for the roles of Skylar and Lambeau.[8] The team eventually chose actressMinnie Driver for Skylar, with Van Sant saying of her audition: "She just blew us away".[8] However, Driver stated that Weinstein sent a sexist note to the casting director, disagreeing with the team's choice because "nobody would want to fuck" Driver, which left her "devastated" at the idea that she might not be hired for misogynistic reasons.[26] Weinstein denied Driver's claim regarding the note, but stated that he had wanted to castAshley Judd in the role at first.[26] ActorStellan Skarsgård received the script while shootingSteven Spielberg's 1997 filmAmistad and accepted the offer for the role of Lambeau.[8] Van Sant and the production team assumed that Casey would play Morgan, since the role had been written for him by Affleck and Damon and he often spent time with the team.[27][28] However, Casey initially refused the part to focus on making a documentary of the production, before accepting to appear inGood Will Hunting.[27]
Meanwhile, the production team began scouting locations in Toronto, but realized that some of the scenes had to be shot in Boston to truly capture the city's character.[8] Affleck and Damon gave tours of South Boston to Skarsgård and Williams at the latter's request; one night, the duo brought Williams to theL Street Tavern, attracting a large crowd of residents.[8] Williams liked the gritty atmosphere of the bar and called Weinstein to inform him that he wanted to shoot some of Affleck and Damon's scenes at that bar.[8][21]
"As a matter of fact, when it all started, there was almost a ceremonial handoff of the project. We said, 'Look man, you are the director. This was our baby, it's yours now, go and do whatever it is you have to do.' Despite the fact that Gus is a very communal director in that he wants everyone's opinions, which makes you feel you're part of the team, there can only be one chef in the kitchen when it comes to making a movie."
Filming began on April 14, 1997, and ended nine weeks later.[8] Affleck and Damon let Van Sant take over the development of the narrative and decided to focus on acting.[29] Van Sant's process included rehearsing with the actors, finding an inconspicuous area to place the camera and shooting long scenes without interfering, to get performances and interactions that conveyed a "moment-to-moment honesty" according to Damon.[8][29] Van Sant tried to accommodate actors: Damon often needed just one take, Affleck liked to try the scenes for a few times, and Williams needed a minimum of seven takes to feel satisfied as he wanted to have versions that focused on different emotions.[15] Several cast members appreciated Van Sant's method: Damon felt that his acting process was "nurtured" by the director, Skarsgård said he gave "the actors space to grow", and Williams found the process "easy", liking that Van Sant stayed in the scene with actors and did not use playback frequently.[15][29] Williams often improvised lines on set, with one of his additions being the last line ofGood Will Hunting: "Son of a bitch stole my line".[8]
Filming took place in Toronto for the interiors and in theGreater Boston area for the exteriors and a few interiors.[30] In Toronto, the production filmed several interior scenes at the University of Toronto, using Knox College, St Michael's College, Victoria College, Whitney Hall, McLennan Physical Laboratories and Faculty Club.[31] Other scenes were shot at theCentral Technical School, the Upfront Bar and Grill, and other locations.[31][32] In Boston, Affleck and his brother along with Damon and Hauser lived in the same apartment and often hang out with Driver.[15] The cast and crew were welcomed by the residents of South Boston, with some offering suggestions for what would make the film "more Boston".[15] Van Sant cast Bostonians in small roles, giving the role of Judge Malone to the production's headteamsterJimmy Flynn, a member of theWinter Hill Gang who had previously been tried and acquitted for murder in the same courtroom of theBoston Municipal Court's South Boston Division used in the film.[15][30][33] The producers invited theBoston Red Sox's representatives on set, trying to convince them to let the production use their logo and footage ofCarlton Fisk'shome run at the 1975 World Series.[15] TheMajor League Baseball had previously refused to allow them to use their own logo and footage, as the film wasR-rated due to the presence ofprofanity, which the production team had then tried to reduce to a minimum.[15] They went on to film several scenes featuring the Red Sox's merchandise and logo, despite receiving their consent only after filming had concluded.[15]
The marketing team at Miramax wanted to use several chain restaurants as sets, but Affleck and Damon championed distinctive Boston locations likeThe Tasty andKelly's Roast Beef.[8] The Harvard administration initially refused to let the production film on campus, but accepted after actor and Harvard alumnusJohn Lithgow vouched for them, allowing the team to shoot scenes in front ofDunster andLowell House.[30] TheBoston Police Department provided security for the production while Damon and Williams were filming a scene at theBoston Public Garden, which attracted more than 3,000 spectators.[8] Other locations in Boston used or featured in the film include the L Street Tavern, aDunkin' Donuts andBaskin Robbins combination store, the MIT campus, the Bow and Arrow Pub, anAu Bon Pain store, theHarvard Square, and Bunker Hill Community College.[30][33] The film ends with Will driving away on theMassachusetts Turnpike.[34]
Van Sant hired editorPietro Scalia forGood Will Hunting, having liked his work with directorsBernando Bertolucci andOliver Stone.[35] Scalia used anAvid Technology editing software onGood Will Hunting.[35] Scalia, Van Sant, and the film's cinematographerJean-Yves Escoffier worked together to get the final result, starting from an early version that Escoffier and Van Sant thought had too manycuts.[36] In the first version, Van Sant had cut out a scene in which Will uses the phrase "How do you like them apples?", but Affleck and Damon insisted to keep it in the film.[15] Van Sant agreed to it after receiving a positive response to the scene at a screening.[15] Scalia focused on the rhythm of the dialogues and the actors' dialects, trying to convey the film's authenticity.[37] Cutting Williams' performance, he chose to use the actor's first takes, finding that Williams' later cuts did not have "that early freshness, that insecurity, that fear".[38] Surprised by the final result, Williams thanked him in person at an exclusive screening organized for him in San Francisco and in a letter after he won theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actor, saying Scalia had done "the kindest cut".[38]
ForGood Will Hunting's score, Van Sant worked with film composerDanny Elfman, with whom he had first collaborated onTo Die For.[39] At that time, Van Sant had heard of singer-songwriterElliott Smith while searching for "raw" sounds, but decided that aheavy metal artist would better fit the film.[40] After wrapping production forTo Die For, he began listening to Smith's music, thinking it would be a better match withGood Will Hunting.[40] He first talked about it with Bender during pre-production and went on to film with Smith's music in mind, telling Scalia to begin incorporating his songs while editing.[40] Meanwhile, he met with Elfman in Boston to ask for his opinion.[41] Elfman approved and began writing a score to match the songs.[41] Towards the end of the editing process, Van Sant contacted Smith through mutual friends to ask for permission to use the songs "No Name #3" from his 1994 albumRoman Candle and "Angeles", "Between the Bars", and "Say Yes" from his 1997 albumEither/Or.[40][42] Smith agreed after watching the film, which inspired him to write an original song, "Miss Misery", forGood Will Hunting.[40] Elfman, Smith, and Van Sant collaborated to finish the score, blending Smith's songs with Elfman's pieces.[43] Elfman provided the orchestral arrangement for "Between the Bars" and later rearranged "Miss Misery" for Smith's performances at award shows, including the70th Academy Awards.[41] Elfman recalled it as "the best experience" he had working on music with an artist, adding: "After 110 films, or whatever, it's been one of the only two times I feel I collaborated with anybody".[41][43]
The main hallway blackboard is used twice to reveal Will's talent, first to the audience, and second to Professor Lambeau. Damon based it on his artist brother Kyle visiting MIT'sInfinite Corridor and writing "an incredibly elaborate, totally fake, version of an equation" on a blackboard, which lasted for months. Kyle returned to Matt, saying that MIT needed those blackboards "because these kids are so smart they just need to, you know, drop everything and solve problems!".[44]
Near the start of the film, Will sets aside his mop to study a difficult problem posed by Lambeau on the blackboard.[45] The problem has to do with intermediate-levelgraph theory, but Lambeau describes it as an advanced "Fourier system". To answer the first part of the question, Will chalks up anadjacency matrix:
To answer the second part, he determines the number of 3-stepwalks in the graph, and finds the third power matrix:
The third and fourth parts of the question concerngenerating functions. The other characters are astounded that a janitor shows such facility withmatrices.
The second problem written by Lambeau involves graph theory, asking to draw all series-reducedtrees on tennodes. Will manages to write eight of the ten trees, before Lambeau interrupts him.[46]
Several scholars have examined the role of class, religion and the cultural geography of Boston in the film. Jeffrey Herlihy-Mera observed that theresidual Catholic–Protestant tensions in Boston are an important backdrop in the film, asIrish Catholics from South Boston are aligned against ostensiblyProtestant characters who are affiliated with Harvard and MIT.[47] Emmett Winn has argued that character interactions show class conflict and stunted social mobility,[48] while, similarly, David Lipset commented that class inequality is a driving subtext.[49]
After the end of production in June, Weinsten ordered atest screening forGood Will Hunting.[9] It ended up scoring the highest among all films Miramax had ever produced, leading the studio to move up the film's premiere to December 5, 1997, one week beforeJames Cameron's filmTitanic.[9] At the time, Miramax had become renowned in the industry for its relentless marketing campaigns, targeted at winning as manyAcademy Awards as possible, as a strategy to promote theirindependent films to wider audiences.[50] At the69th Academy Awards, the studio had garnered twenty nominations for its 1996 productions, including twelve forThe English Patient and two each forSling Blade andEmma.[50] According toThe New York Times, Miramax's strategy that year had involved an advertising campaign inVariety andThe Hollywood Reporter, telephone campaigns and screenings to market their lesser-known films to Academy voters, television and radio shows about the making of Miramax films, and a series of cultural events tied to their films.[50] Weinstein had denied that the studio staged extreme marketing campaigns for the Academy Awards, and an executive stated that their marketing strategy aimed to reach large audiences, not win awards.[50] Leading up to the premiere, Miramax used a similarly intense strategy forGood Will Hunting, running a marketing campaign featuring Affleck and Damon that soon led them to become exhausted.[9][51] Despite being understanding of the studio's motivations, Damon later said: "The whole experience was overwhelming, very unhealthy."[9]
Good Will Hunting premiered on December 2, 1997, at theBruin Theater inWestwood Village, Los Angeles.[52] In the United States, the film received a limited release in seven theaters across New York and Los Angeles on December 5, 1997, grossing $272,912 in its opening weekend.[53][54] In its fourth weekend of release, it grossed $1,720,540 from 157 theaters.[54] Two weeks later,Good Will Hunting received awide release across 1,787 theaters, grossing $14,844,684 and finishing as the number two film of the week behindTitanic.[55] In its eight week, it grossed $11,218,707 and began to fall in the rankings, finishing as the number three film of the week behindTitanic andSpice World.[56] By the following week, the film had earned a total gross of over $60 million.[57] In the week following the announcement ofGood Will Hunting's nominations at the 70th Academy Awards, it earned $11,075,873—a 23.8% increase—and finished as the number four film of the week behindTitanic and two new releases,The Wedding Singer andSphere.[58][59] In its fourteenth week, the film's total gross surpassed the 100 million mark.[57]
According to Kevin Smith, Williams' deal dictated that at that point he would begin receiving a bigger percentage of thefirst-dollar gross profits—nearing a fifty-fifty split.[19] Miramax had reached a point where it became more advantageous for them to release the film onhome video, instead of paying the cost of running advertisings in publications and keeping the film in theaters.[22] Weinstein asked Damon to convince Williams to renegotiate the deal so the film would stay in theaters, with the promise that Miramax would keep promoting it with the goal of reaching a total gross of $150 million.[22] After Damon refused, Weinstein and Miramax first scaled back on the number of theaters in which it played, before definitively pulling it from theaters.[19][22][60]Good Will Hunting left theaters in its thirty-third week of release, having grossed $138.4 million against a budget of $10–16 million and spent thirteen consecutive weeks among the top ten highest-grossing films.[57][60][61]
Affleck, Damon, and Van Sant were also owed shares of the film's revenue, equivalent to 2.5% of the adjusted gross for Van Sant and a percentage of thenet profit for Affleck and Damon.[9] Van Sant stated that Miramax did not pay it and that Weinstein told him that Williams' deal had depleted their resources, but Weinstein denied the claims.[9] Affleck and Damon also did not receive their share, as Miramax told them that theiraccounting department had reported that the film had lost $50 million.[9] Both were later given a bonus of $500,000 each.[9] Damon stated: "I don't ever look back on that experience and feel ripped off. Maybe if I had never worked again after that, [..] But it wasn't a onetime thing. I'm still benefiting from that experience."[9]
Good Will Hunting was first released on home video on July 7, 1998.[62] Over the course of that year, the film received releases in the United States on formatsLaserDisc,DIVX, andDVD, with the latter being acollector's edition that included audio commentary by Affleck, Damon, and Van Sant, eleven deleted scenes with commentary, a promotionalfeaturette on the film's production, and a music video.[63][64][65] In June 2011, it became available onstreaming through thesubscription video-on-demand servicesHulu andNetflix.[66][67] In August 2011,Good Will Hunting was first made available on the home video formatBlu-Ray.[68] A year later, the film received a second Blu-Ray release for its fifteenth anniversary that included previously released bonus content, a retrospective documentary on the film's development and reception, and a featurette of an interview with Damon, talking about its production and impact on his life.[69][70] It also became available on the subscription video-on-demand servicesAmazon Prime Video,Apple TV+, andParamount+.[71][72][73] In August 2025,Good Will Hunting appeared in Netflix's list of the top ten most-watched films of the week.[74]
Good Will Hunting received widespread acclaim from critics. On thereview aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 97%, based on 91 reviews, with an average rating of 8.10/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "It follows a predictable narrative arc, butGood Will Hunting adds enough quirks to the journey – and is loaded with enough powerful performances – that it remains an entertaining, emotionally rich drama."[75] OnMetacritic, the film has aweighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[76] Audiences surveyed byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on a scale of A+ to F.[77]
Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four, writing that while the story is "predictable", it is "the individual moments, not the payoff, that make it so effective".[78]
Duane Byrge ofThe Hollywood Reporter praised the performances of the cast, writing, "The acting is brilliant overall, with special praise to Matt Damon for his ragingly tender portrayal of the boy cursed with genius."[79]
Peter Stack of theSan Francisco Chronicle was equally positive, writing, "The glow goes well beyond a radiant performance by Matt Damon ... Intimate, heartfelt and wickedly funny, it's a movie whose impact lingers."[80]
Owen Gleiberman, writing forEntertainment Weekly, gave the film a "B", stating, "Good Will Hunting is stuffed – indeed, overstuffed – with heart, soul, audacity, and blarney. You may not believe a minute of it, but you don't necessarily want to stop watching." He also noted Damon's and Williams' chemistry, describing it as "a quicksilver intercepting each other's thoughts".[81]
Janet Maslin ofThe New York Times called the screenplay "smart and touching", and praised Van Sant for directing with "style, shrewdness and clarity". She also complimented theproduction design andcinematography, which were able to effortlessly move the viewer from "classroom to dorm room to neighborhood bar", in a small setting.[82]
Quentin Curtis ofThe Daily Telegraph opined that Williams' performance brought "sharpness and tenderness", calling the film a "crowd-pleaser, with bags of charm to spare. It doesn't bear thinking too much about its message ... Damon and Affleck's writing has real wit and vigour, and some depth."[83]
Andrew O'Hehir ofSalon stated that despite the "enjoyable characters", he thought that the film was somewhat superficial, writing, "there isn't a whole lot of movie to take home with you ... many will wake the next morning wondering why, with all that talent on hand, it amounts to so little in the end."[84]
Writing for theBBC, Nev Pierce gave the film four stars out of five, describing it as "touching, without being sentimental", although he felt that some scenes were "odd lapses into self-help speak".[85]
Emanuel Levy ofVariety called the film a "beautifully realized tale ... engaging and often quite touching". He felt that the film's visual style showcased Van Sant's talent, but the plot was "quite predictable".[86]
At the70th Academy Awards,Good Will Hunting and its cast and crew wonBest Original Screenplay (for Affleck and Damon) andBest Supporting Actor (for Williams) and received nominations forBest Actor (for Damon),Best Director (for Van Sant),Best Film Editing (for Scalia),Best Original Dramatic Score (for Elfman),Best Original Song (for Smith's "Miss Misery"),Best Picture, andBest Supporting Actress (for Driver).[87] At the age of twenty-five, Affleck became the youngest person ever to have won an Academy Award for screenwriting, with Damon being the second youngest person at age twenty-seven.[8] However, rumors had begun to spread ahead of the Academy Awards ceremony that the script had not been written by Affleck and Damon, but by Goldman.[14][15] Damon refused to address it in interviews at the time, feeling insulted.[15]
Worldwide,Good Will Hunting grossed $225.9 million.[60] In the United States, it surpassedPulp Fiction (1994) as Miramax's most successful release ever at the box office and became the seventh highest-grossing film of 1997.[91][92] DirectorCurtis Hanson contextualized the film's success as part of a commercial and critical resurgence of character-driven narratives, along with the 1997 filmsAs Good as It Gets andThe Full Monty.[93] Commentators had predicted that the year would have been dominated bymajor film studios' productions likeTitanic, but the unexpected success ofGood Will Hunting and other independent films balanced out 1997 and demonstrated the continued commercial and critical strength of independent studios' productions, which had already commanded 1996.[94][95] The film was evaluated as a successful example ofcounterprogramming, having been released nearly at the same time as the box-office hitTitanic.[96][97] Commentators recognized Miramax and other independent studios' ability to generate bigger returns than major studios by casting newcomers or formerA-list actors and finding ignored scripts, allowing them to produce films at a low cost.[61][98] However, some argued that Miramax productions could not be considered independent films in the traditional sense due to their relatively high budgets, while others noted that they were still much inferior to that of major studios' productions.[61][94][98]
After the Academy Awards ceremony, rumors that Affleck and Damon had not written the script continued to spread.[16] Goldman repeatedly denied the claim in interviews and in his 2000memoirWhich Lie Did I Tell?.[14][16] In 2003, the rumors were used as the premise of the playMatt & Ben, written by actressesMindy Kaling andBrenda Withers, in which the script ofGood Will Hunting fell from the ceiling of Affleck's apartment.[99] The production was staged as part of theNew York Fringe Festival, with Kaling and Withers playing Affleck and Damon respectively.[100] Bruce Weber ofThe New York Times reviewed it positively when it was presented againoff-Broadway.[99]
Good Will Hunting launched the acting careers of Affleck and Damon.[8] Affleck, Damon, and Kevin Smith were able to find funding for Smith's 1999 filmDogma due toGood Will Hunting andChasing Amy's success.[18] However, audiences came to associate Affleck to popcorn films and Damon to intellectual drama films due to their characters' opposite traits and the genre of the actors' subsequent projects in 1998, which wereMichael Bay'sArmageddon for Affleck and Spielberg'sSaving Private Ryan for Damon.[12][15]Saturday Night Live later aired asketch portraying Affleck as unintelligent and ignorant.[12] Damon noted that "it was terrifically unfair" and that it took for Affleck to start directing his own films and winning an Academy Award to change the misconception.[12] Affleck and Damon appeared together in several films over the next decades, but resumed their screenwriting collaboration only years later with the production ofRidley Scott's 2021 filmThe Last Duel, saying thatGood Will Hunting had taken them so long to finish that it had deterred them from committing to other screenwriting projects.[7] In 2022, the duo established the production companyArtists Equity.[7] The following year, Affleck was offered to participate in the production of asequel forGood Will Hunting, but stated that neither he nor Damon would pursue the project.[101]
Elliott Smith in 2003
The film also brought Elliott Smith to national prominence following his nomination and reluctant performance at the 70th Academy Awards.[102] His label,Kill Rock Stars, was able to pay its debts after Smith's rise in popularity.[102] However, Smith did not enjoy fame and shied away from it.[103] Smith went on to release two more albums before dying bysuicide in 2003.[102][104] He facilitated the popularization ofemo music in the 2000s and became a prominent influence on musicians of different genres, fromindie folk tocontemporary R&B, for his introspective lyricism and guitar-driven sounds.[43][105] His music has often been featured on soundtracks for film and television.[104] In a 2009 retrospective review ofGood Will Hunting's soundtrack, Alex Young ofConsequence called Elfman and Smith's collaboration a "tremendous example of composer and contemporary musician weaving together their creativity".[43] He appreciated the dichotomy between Smith's gentle music and Will's tough exterior, which concealed his vulnerability.[43] In a 2015 review,Bernard Zuel ofThe Sydney Morning Herald gave the soundtrack three stars and a half out of five, saying that Smith's songs overshadowed Elfman's score.[106]
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Hopkins, Susan; Balloo, Kieran; Ramos, Fabiane; Salmeron, Raquel; Singh, Niharika; Wilson, Victoria E. (August 2024). "True Encounters with the Fictional University: Collectively Rewriting the Script of Filmic Dark Academia from the Academic Margins".Culture & Organization.42.Routledge:1–17.doi:10.1080/14759551.2024.2394461.
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Mendick, Heather; Moreau, Marie-Pierre (2013). "FromGood Will Hunting toDeal or No Deal". In Ineson, Gwen; Povey, Hilary (eds.).Debates in Mathematics Education.Routledge. pp. 17–27.ISBN9780367074982.
Moreau, Marie-Pierre; Mendick, Heather; Epstein, Debbie (2009). "Constructions of Mathematical Masculinities in Popular Culture". In Watson, Elwood (ed.).Pimps, Wimps, Studs, Thugs and Gentlemen: Essays on Media Images of Masculinity.McFarland & Company. pp. 141–156.ISBN9780786443055.
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