He’s back – or, rather, he will be next year.
That’s right, you read that correctly – Ari Aster is finally coming back with a new movie soon and we are all counting down the days until it comes out. The mind behind two of the most iconic horror movies of the last few years – Hereditary and Midsommar, is going to be releasing his third film soon enough, simply titled Beau is Afraid, released by A24, the same studio that made his previous films.
But, what is this film going to be about? And when is it going to release? If you’re just as curious as we are, here are six quick things we know about Beau is Afraid, and what you can expect soon.
Beau Is Afraid Is Set To Release At Some Point In 2023
Mark your 2023 movie schedules, viewers, because Beau is Afraid is coming out in theaters next year, in 2023. According to A24’s Twitter page, they announced that the film would be released at some point then. An exact release date is still unknown.
His first two films, Hereditary and Midsommar, released in June 2018 and February 2019, respectively, so maybe sometime early next year we could end up getting his latest movie. However, since we don’t know, all we can hope is that they stick to the 2023 release schedule.
Joaquin Phoenix Will Star
Some other big news that was confirmed not that long ago, but further confirmed in that Twitter post, was that Joaquin Phoenix is going to star in Beau is Afraid.
These two apparently worked very well behind the scenes, with the atmosphere being that of “old friends,” according to fellow co-star, Stephen McKinley Henderson, who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the upcoming movie, back when it was still called Disappointment Blvd.
Joaquin and Ari were so simpatico, and they worked together for the whole film. I came in pretty close to the end of the shoot and so they had been working a while. And their way of working together was like they were really old friends. They could get upset and make up in the span of seconds, it seemed. But the work was always the better for it.
Joaquin Phoenix has been having himself a great few years, where he starred in the film, Joker, which won him an Academy Award for Best Actor, and was also in C’mon C’mon, so it’ll be exciting to see him come back to another big role.
Nathan Lane, Stephen McKinley Henderson, And More Will Also Star
Obviously, we can’t just have one person be the star of Beau is Afraid, and the cast for the film has already been set with plenty of great stars. According to IndieWire, Nathan Lane, Stephen McKinley Henderson (who was mentioned before), Patti LuPone, Amy Ryan, and Parker Posey are all set to have major roles in the movie.
What a cast list. I mean, Lane has been increased attention lately for the Hulu original series, Only Murders in The Building, along with so many other great projects. LuPone is an acting legend. Ryan has also been in Only Murders in the Building and was a star of Lost Girls, and Parker Posey has most recently been in the Netflix original show, Lost in Space.
They’ve really just been all over the place, and I can’t wait to see them in this movie to see their acting skills. Even Henderson talked about how excited he was to be acting alongside everyone in that interview he did with The Hollywood Reporter:
I worked with Joaquin! And I got to work with Patti LuPone! Patti and I went to school together. So we did work together in school, but we hadn’t worked together professionally. 50 years later, this is the first time we’ve worked together professionally. We met in 1968. So that was a real joy to be on set with Patti and to work with Joaquin, who is really a nice person.
The Movie Will Follow One Of The Most Successful Entrepreneurs Of All Time
As with any Ari Aster movie, the details that are out about this film are very limited. However, the bare minimum premise was released for fans to theorize about. According to the same IndieWire piece from before, Beau is Afraid is going to follow the story of one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time in a “decades-spanning” portrait of their life.
Who this person is going to be, we have no idea. We don’t even know if it’s based on a real person or not. But, this is Ari Aster, so we’ll be paying attention to it no matter what.
But Beau Is Afraid Will Not Be A Horror Movie
This isn’t that surprising, because Ari Aster probably needed some time off from horror movies after the two intense ones he just released, but Beau is Afraid is not going to be a horror movie, according to a Reddit AMA (via IndieWire).
Back when he was still in the writing stages of Beau is Afraid, Aster was quick to say that he doesn’t want his next movie to be horror, and instead wanted it to be something completely different:
Next one will either be a zonky nightmare comedy or a big, sickly domestic melodrama. It might take me a few movies before I wind back around to [horror], but I love horror and I’m sure I’ll be back.
As someone who does love his horror movies, I have to say that I am a little sad we won’t get to see another one for some time. They are some of the best A24 horror movies and people often debate which one is better. But, I’m here for an Aster comedy too, so bring it on.
Beau Is Afraid Could Be A “Four-Hour Long Nightmare Comedy”
While the film itself was once called Disappointment Blvd. (as mentioned above), Aster was still talking about it even then – and it looks like his wishes of making a comedy worked out in a strange way, as Beau is Afraid is going to be a nightmare comedy – and long.
In an interview that he did with the Associate Students Program Board at UC Santa Barbara, Aster confirmed that he had finished another draft and that it was very long - four hours long, and that it was a “nightmare comedy.”
What exactly this means, I’m not sure. I always think of the best horror comedies first before anything else because those are pretty crazy, but since this isn’t a horror movie, I’m not entirely aware of what a “nightmare comedy” entails. I’m sure I’ll still be blown away regardless.
What are you looking forward to the most with Ari Aster’s next film? I’m just counting down the days until it comes out. Now all I need is a premiere date.
