Vulture has learned that the Oscar-winning duo of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are teaming up once again — this time re-forming their production company, which they are negotiating to have a first-look deal at Warner Bros.

It's an interesting development for the two men, who couldn't be more different despite their long friendship and close association.

After a string of bad decisions that had him starring in execrable films like Gigli, the aptly titled Paycheck, and Surviving Christmas, Affleck became far more interested in writing and directing: He won critical acclaim for directing his brother Casey in the taut kidnapping thriller Gone Baby Gone in 2007, and most recently directed himself in the heist caper The Town at Warner Bros., after adapting the source novel, Chuck Hogan's The Prince of Thieves.

As for Matt Damon, insiders say that at first blush he seems like the last person who'd want or need a first-look producing deal. Per Forbes, he's consistently in the top ten Hollywood stars offering the best return on investment, and as such, is in rarefied club of "first-dollar gross participants" — those few actors who are paid a share of a movie's grosses before anyone else, including the studio that made the film and the theaters screening it. But while Damon has primarily been focused on his acting, insiders also point out the Bourne star has told close associates that he does intend to direct films someday, and has chosen his roles accordingly.

In effect, Damon's been scrupulously attending an ersatz film school at Warner Bros., staffed by Oscar-winning directors: In 2006, he starred in Martin Scorsese's The Departed for the studio, which won Best Picture and Scorsese his first Best Director Oscar. In 2007, as part of the ensemble cast in Ocean's Thirteen, Damon was again able to observe Soderbergh up close, reteamed with him to star in Che: Part Two, and then headlined his comedy The Informant! last year. And of course, Damon is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his work in Invictus, directed by Clint Eastwood, who's himself won the Best Director Oscar twice — for Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby. The last three films were all made at Warners.

Damon and Affleck's reps did not return calls seeking comment, but insiders say a formal announcement of the first-look production deal at Warner Bros. is expected as early as the end of this week. What remains unclear is whether the pair will call the venture LivePlanet, which was the name of the company they started a decade ago with producers Chris Moore and Sean Bailey, or create a brand-new, as-yet unnamed entity.

LivePlanet, by the way, was based at Disney, where Bailey is now president of production. Disney might have seemed like a natural fit for the newly restarted production company, given Affleck's relationship with Bailey (who is credited as a producer on Gone Baby Gone, which Disney released), but as Vulture recently reported, the studio is entering a merchandise-driven, franchise-intensive era not conducive to grown-up films like The Town. As such, even if Bailey could offer his old bosses a spot on Disney’s Burbank lot, he'd effectively be producing Project Redlight — and that’s one series in which no one wants a starring role.