Ben Affleck might play an accountant on the big screen, but it turns out he’s got a real knack for crunching numbers off-camera too. 

Hitting the red carpet for The Accountant 2 premiere on Wednesday, Affleck didn’t just talk about movies — he dove into some real talk about California’s film and TV tax incentive program.

According to the actor-producer, California officials may have gotten a little too comfortable with the entertainment industry sticking around. 

“They came to take this industry for granted a little bit,” Affleck told AP. 

And he’s not just tossing out opinions — he’s got the facts to back it up. Just this week, FilmLA reported that shoot days in Greater L.A. dropped by 22.4% in the first quarter alone.

Affleck did give a nod to Governor Gavin Newsom’s latest plan, which proposes more than doubling the state’s current $330 million a year in incentives to a beefier $750 million starting fiscal 2025-2026. 

But, according to Affleck, California still has some serious catching up to do. 

“The percentage of what you get back in terms of the actual budget doesn’t compete with places like England, which is why you see a lot of these big, huge movies shoot in the U.K.”

Not stopping there, Affleck rattled off other places winning the Hollywood production race with sweeter deals — Georgia, New Jersey, and Louisiana all made his list of spots with better exchange rates or tax rebates.

And it looks like his timing is spot-on. 

His comments come just days before the California legislature will dig into SB 630 and another proposal that could reshape the state’s film industry incentives. 

If passed, the bills would bump the available credit for individual projects from 20% to 35% for amounts spent in Los Angeles, plus give the California Film Commission the option to add another 5% in certain economic opportunity zones.

Ben Affleck isn’t just starring in The Accountant 2 — he’s out here doing the math for the whole industry.