Big-name actors have spent time this year filming upcoming movies in the Boston area: Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger, the Dorchester-raised Mark Wahlberg for the sequel to Ted, and Sea of Trees star Matthew McConaughey could be spotted on set between and during shoots around town. Now, Boston native Matt Damon will be returning for a new film, in order to shoot scenes for his first (partly) Boston-based movie since 2006’s The Departed.

Hollywood Reporter announced over the weekend that Damon would be teaming up with Kenneth Lonergan for a new movie, a drama titled Manchester-by-the-Sea. Damon will play a “ne’er-do-well” plumber living in Boston who must return to his hometown of Manchester after his brother dies.

The film is coming together, according to Hollywood Reporter, after OddLot Entertainment’s Gigi Pritzker made moves to produce and finance the project. If all goes according to plan, Manchester will go into pre-production for a fall shooting.

Previously, Damon and Lonergan worked together on the 2011 drama Margaret. In Manchester, Damon’s character will be in charge of taking care of his deceased brother’s 16-year-old son, while dealing with a “secret tragedy in his past,” according to Hollywood Reporter. The article also adds that Damon will finish shooting Manchester before diving right into his next upcoming film, The Martian, which will begin filming this November.

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