A batch of first look images give a preview of the second half of Chucky season 3, coming to Syfy and USA Network next month

Chucky season 3 had to be split in half due to the writers and actors strikes, with the first four episodes (read our review HERE) airing on Syfy and USA Network (as well as the Peacock streaming service) back in October. Production resumed at the end of November, and the second half of the season will begin airing on April 10th. With that date just a few weeks away, a batch of first look images have arrived online to give us a preview of what the new episodes have in store for us. One of those images can be seen above, and the rest can be found at the bottom of this article.

A follow-up to all of the Child’s Play movies (remake excluded), Chucky picks up where Cult of Chucky left off. Don Mancini, who has written every film in the franchise (except that remake) and directed a few of them, developed Chucky with producer David Kirschner. Mancini and Kirschner are executive producing Chucky with Harley Peyton, Alex Hedlund, and Nick Antosca. The first season had Chucky terrorizing Hackensack, New Jersey, then he was sent off to a Catholic boarding school for season 2. Now it’s D.C.’s turn to experience some Chucky trouble.

Here’s the season 3 synopsis: In Chucky’s unending thirst for power, season 3 now sees Chucky ensconced with the most powerful family in the world — America’s First Family, inside the infamous walls of the White House. How did Chucky wind up here? What in God’s name does he want? And how can Jake, Devon, and Lexy possibly get to Chucky inside the world’s most secure house, all while balancing the pressures of romantic relationships and growing up? Meanwhile, Tiffany faces a looming crisis of her own as the police close in on her for “Jennifer Tilly’s” murderous rampage last season.

The series stars Jennifer Tilly (as serial killer Tiffany Valentine, now inhabiting the body of actress Jennifer Tilly), Zackary Arthur (as Jake Wheeler), Alyvia Alyn Lind (as Lexy Cross), Fiona Dourif (as Nica Pierce), Björgvin Arnarson (as Devon Evans), Devon Sawa (as President James Collins), Alex Vincent (as Andy Barclay), Christine Elise (as Kyle), Jackson Kelly (as Grant Collins), Lara Jean Chorostecki (as Charlotte Collins), Carina Battrick (as Caroline Cross), and Brad Dourif (providing the voice of Chucky). A while back, it was announced that legendary filmmaker John Waters, who previously played Pete Peters, a tabloid photographer who got dissolved by acid in 2004’s Seed of Chucky, has been added to the cast of Chucky season 3, where he’ll be playing Wendell Wilkins, “the reclusive creator of the Good Guy dolls, who gets drawn into the psychopathic Chucky’s tangled web”.

Are you caught up on Chucky season 3, and will you be tuning in when the season resumes in April? Let us know by leaving a comment below – but first, take a look at these images:

Lachy Hulme replaces the late Hugh Keays-Byrne as Immortan Joe in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, a prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road

When director George Miller needed to fill the role of Immortan Joe in Mad Max: Fury Road, he turned to actor Hugh Keays-Byrne, who had previously played the villainous Toecutter in the original Mad Max. Sadly, Keays-Byrne passed away in 2020, before Miller could get the prequel Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga into production – so in this movie, which is set to reach theatres on May 24, the role of Immortan Joe is being played by Lachy Hulme. Hulme’s casting in the role was confirmed by Empire, and they also scored a great quote from Hulme about the scope of the film. He told them Furiosa is “David Lean, but with motorbikes instead of camels. When you see 4,000 custom-made motorbikes come over a hill, you shit your pants.“

Hulme pulls double duty in the Furiosa, as he also plays a character called Rizzdale Pell, who is “one of the gang members affiliated with Chris Hemsworth’s warlord Dementus.” We’ve heard Dementus is “a pretty horrible individual.”

Directed by Miller from a screenplay he wrote with Nico Lathouris, Furiosa has the following synopsis: As the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland they come across the Citadel presided over by the Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home. The story is said to take place over a span of fifteen years.

Hulme (Offspring) and Hemsworth (Thor) are joined in the cast by Tom Burke (C.B. Strike) and Quaden Bayles (Three Thousand Years of Longing), with Alyla Browne (The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart) as a younger Furiosa. Nathan Jones and Angus Sampson are said to reprise their Fury Road roles of Rictus Erectus and The Organic Mechanic. Title character Furiosa is played by Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch), taking over from Fury Road‘s Charlize Theron.

Miller hasn’t revealed whether or not Mad Max himself will be appearing in the movie, he has only teased that, “Max is lurking there in the background.” If you’re anxious to see more Mad Max, there’s some good news: Miller has confirmed that he has another Mad Max story written, which would presumably be the Mad Max: The Wasteland story that he has referenced here and there ever since Fury Road was released. Now that Furiosa is making its way out into the world, here’s hoping that Miller or a protégé (Miller has said he has three different directors in mind that he would like to see make movies set in the world of his franchise) will get Mad Max: The Wasteland into production sooner than later.

Are you looking forward to seeing the return of Immortan Joe in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Is Christopher Nolan going to adapt the psychedellic sixties spy series, The Prisoner, into his next feature film?

After earning seven Academy Awards for his latest opus, Oppenheimer, everyone wants to know what Christopher Nolan will be doing next. The short answer, of course, is anything he wants. But, buried within a Variety report about how much the director earned for Oppenheimer is a juicy tidbit teasing he might be directing an adaptation of the classic ’60s series The Prisoner! Widely considered one of the greatest TV shows of all time, it starred Patrick McGoohan (who was also the creative mind behind the show) as an unnamed British spy dumped on an island prison for those who were too valuable to be allowed to roam free. Dubbed “The Village”, the former spies don’t have names, but are rather known by their numbers. He’s known as Number 6, with Number 2 being in charge of the never-seen Number 1. The series plays like a psychedelic, cerebral James Bond movie, meaning it would be ideal material for Nolan to tackle.

Many others have tried to turn The Prisoner into a film. Mel Gibson, who was a huge fan of the show and cast McGoohan as Longshanks in Braveheart, always wanted to do a big-screen version. His Passion of the Christ co-star Jim Caviezel headlined a limited series version for AMC in 2009 that co-starred Ian McKellen as Number 2. Fun tidbit, McGoohan actually reprised his role as Number 6 on an episode of The Simpsons. The premise of The Prisoner was also lifted wholesale for a Van Damme movie called Double Team (best remembered for co-starring Dennis Rodman).

As for Nolan’s Oppenheimer payday, he banked nearly $100 million as the project’s director, writer, and producer. This nice chunk of change represents a combined total from multiple sources, including the filmmaker’s salary, backend compensation, box-office escalators, and a bonus for his twin Academy Awards.

On Sunday night at the 96th Academy Awards ceremony, Oppenheimer took home prizes for the following awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Cillian Murphy), Best Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr.), Best Cinematography (Hoyte van Hoytema), Best Editing (Jennifer Lame), and Best Original Score (Ludwig Göransson). The film’s combined accolades will bump Christopher Nolan up the Hollywood ladder as a filmmaker to chase when his next project comes about. While Nolan was already one of the industry’s most in-demand talents, his multiple Oscar wins boosted his cache even higher, making him a formidable force in filmmaking.

Christopher Nolan and his talented team made Oppenheimer on a production budget of $100 million. The historical drama earned $958 million worldwide, making the film a monumental money-earner and then some. Who wouldn’t want to work with Nolan after a return like that? The total earnings are even more impressive considering the film’s R rating and three-hour runtime. Many people don’t want to sit in a theater that long, but they listen when Nolan recommends that people see his movies in theaters. Oppenheimer also added money to its coffers by pushing movie buffs to own physical film copies. Oppenheimer quickly sold out in the United States, calling for the distributor to press more copies immediately.

What would you like to see Christopher Nolan tackle next? Is $100 million an appropriate payday for the premiere filmmaker? Let us know in the comments section below.

About the Author

Born and raised in New York, then immigrated to Canada, Steve Seigh has been a JoBlo.com editor, columnist, and critic since 2012. He started with Ink & Pixel, a column celebrating the magic and evolution of animation, before launching the companion YouTube series Animation Movies Revisited. He’s also the host of the Talking Comics Podcast, a personality-driven audio show focusing on comic books, film, music, and more. You’ll rarely catch him without headphones on his head and pancakes on his breath.

Two of Hollywood’s beefiest action stars, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Alan Ritchson, are teaming up for the family comedy The Man With The Bag.

A fascinating combination of stars is coming down the chimney for the family comedy The Man With The Bag. Who better to lead a festive film with wholesome fun than action behemoths Arnold Schwarzenegger (True Lies, Jingle All The Way, Total Recall) and Alan Ritchson (Reacher, Titans, Fast X)? The Man With The Bag is Schwarzenegger’s first feature since wrapping his part for Kung Fury 2, while Ritchson’s cache is overflowing after starring in Reacher, with projects like Playdate, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, and Motor City on the way.

Adam Shankman (Hairspray, Rock of Ages, A Walk to Remember) directs The Man With The Bag from a script by Allan Rice (Stuck in the Middle, Call Your Mother, The New Adventures of Old Christine). The holiday-themed project hails from Amazon MGM Studios. According to Deadline‘s exclusive report, the logline for The Man With the Bag reads: “When Santa’s magic bag is stolen, he turns to his naughty list to find Vance, a former thief, to help him get it back. Along with his daughter, Santa, and a group of misfit elves, Vance will have to pull off the greatest heist of his life to save Christmas.”

We’ve yet to learn who is playing who, though whispers around the North Pole point toward Schwarzenegger playing Santa Claus. Arnie is well-acquainted with holiday films after starring in the criminally underrated comedy Jingle All The Way (I said what I said). In the family-friendly holiday film, a father (Schwarzenegger) vows to get his son a Turbo Man action figure for Christmas. However, every store is sold out, and he must travel all over town to compete with everybody else, including a disgruntled postman (Sinbad), to find one and save Christmas.

Meanwhile, Ritchson’s action star is rising after starring in Reacher and Fast X. If he keeps his nose clean, Ritchson could become one of Hollywood’s go-to action stars on the big screen. He’s got the acting chops, the build, and the drive to deliver top-notch action with enthusiasm. He’ll be in great shape as long as Hollywood doesn’t pigeonhole Ritchson into cookie-cutter silver screen slop and gives him bangers to strut his stuff. If nothing else, starring in a family comedy is a right of passage for action stars. Need evidence? Look at projects like The Pacifier, My Spy, and Suburban Commando. Starring alongside Schwarzenegger, one of Hollywood’s greatest living legends, is an outstanding way to dip your toe into the kiddie pool.

About the Author

Born and raised in New York, then immigrated to Canada, Steve Seigh has been a JoBlo.com editor, columnist, and critic since 2012. He started with Ink & Pixel, a column celebrating the magic and evolution of animation, before launching the companion YouTube series Animation Movies Revisited. He’s also the host of the Talking Comics Podcast, a personality-driven audio show focusing on comic books, film, music, and more. You’ll rarely catch him without headphones on his head and pancakes on his breath.

The new adaptation of the Stephen King classic, Salem’s Lot, will not be shelved after all. Instead, it’s going to Max

Some good news, ladies and gents – it appears as though the long-shelved big-screen adaption of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot (buy a copy of the novel HERE) won’t be deleted after all. Variety just broke the news that New Line and Warner Bros will put the movie out on its Max streaming service this year. While this was widely anticipated, in recent months, the buzz had turned pretty dark, with it heavily rumored that WB would be taking a loss on the film and deleting it, which is what they did with Batgirl. The Looney Tunes/live-action mash-up Coyote vs ACME seems to be going that way as well (unless John Cena’s comic performance at the Oscar swayed anyone).

This is the third adaptation of Salem’s Lot. The previous two were both mini-series, which aired in 1979 and 2004. This new take on the concept is said to be set in 1975, the same year King’s novel was first published. Here’s the synopsis: Haunted by an incident from his childhood, author Ben Mears returns to his hometown of Jerusalem’s Lot in search of inspiration for his next book, only to discover the town is being preyed upon by a bloodthirsty vampire and his loyal servant.

The film stars Lewis Pullman (Top Gun: Maverick) as Ben Mears; Makenzie Leigh (Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk) as Ben’s love interest Susan Norton; Spencer Treat Clark (The Town That Dreaded Sundown 2014) as Mike Ryerson, “one of the town’s simple folk”; Bill Camp (12 Years a Slave) as Matthew Burke, “a former high school English teacher who knows about the Marsten House’s evil past and helps out Ben”; Alfre Woodard (Star Trek: First Contact) as Dr. Cody; Pilou Asbæk (Game of Thrones) as the vampire’s familiar Richard Straker; and John Benjamin Hickey as Father Callahan. William Sadler (Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey) is also in the cast, but we don’t know who he’s playing. Alexander Ward (American Horror Story) might be playing the vampire Kurt Barlow.

When this project went into production back in 2021, Dauberman was one of New Line Cinema’s go-to people when it comes to making horror. He co-wrote the Stephen King adaptations It and It: Chapter Two for them, and also wrote four entries in the Conjuring Universe for the company: Annabelle, Annabelle: Creation, Annabelle Comes Home, and The Nun. Annabelle Comes Home was his directorial debut. While Warner Bros. had Salem’s Lot gathering dust on a shelf, Dauberman left the studio behind and signed a deal to develop projects for Sony’s Screen Gems.

I have to admit, I’m shocked that Warner Bros. didn’t decide to just scrap Salem’s Lot and use it as a tax write-off, since that’s something they seem to enjoy doing these days. It’s good to know this movie is actually going to see the light of day on Max.

Are you glad to hear Salem’s Lot will be released through the Max streaming service? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.

Matt Reeves’ The Batman 2 release date is moving by a whole year because of the fallout from the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

Holy release date shift, Batman! Matt Reeves’ The Batman 2 is sticking to the shadows a bit longer after moving from its October 3, 2025 release date to October 2, 2026! If you’re looking to throw a batarang at the culprit, aim for the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

While this news is disappointing, the shift gives James Gunn’s Superman film room to leap over the box office in a single bound when it flies into theaters on July 11, 2025. Double-dipping on two of DC’s Trinity heroes would have been nice, but spacing them out is likely better in the long run. Matt Reeves’ The Batman is not a part of Gunn and Safran’s “Gods and Monsters” initiative, but it’s all the same for plenty of audience members. Not everyone keeps their finger on the pulse of how the DCU is structured.

In The Batman Part II, Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz return as Bruce Wayne and Catwoman, respectively. Colin Farrell also returns as the opportunistic villain Oswald Cobblepot, with Barry Keoghan playing The Joker. Reeves teased Keoghan’s Jester of Genocide at the end of The Batman, though we have yet to learn how he’ll contribute to the sequel.

Meanwhile, The Batman spin-off series, The Penguin, is still waddling onto Max in late 2024. The release date for the show starring Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot could shift because of The Batman 2 delay, but so far, so good.

The Penguin follows the events of The Batman. After the Riddler opens the floodgates of Gotham City (literally), a war for power rages through the darkly lit streets in one of fiction’s most dangerous cities. Oswald Cobblepot recognizes that Gotham is in a state of panic and aims to take advantage of a city gripped by fear.

The series is executive produced by Matt Reeves, Dylan Clark, Colin Farrell, Lauren LeFranc, who writes and serves as showrunner, Craig Zobel, who directs the first three episodes, and Bill Carraro. Based on characters created for DC by Bob Kane with Bill Finger, The Penguin is produced by Reeves’ 6th & Idaho Productions and Dylan Clark Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, where Reeves and 6th & Idaho are under an overall deal. 6th & Idaho’s Daniel Pipski also serves as executive producer, and Rafi Crohn is co-executive producer.

What do you think about The Batman 2 getting delayed? Let us know in the comments section below.

About the Author

Born and raised in New York, then immigrated to Canada, Steve Seigh has been a JoBlo.com editor, columnist, and critic since 2012. He started with Ink & Pixel, a column celebrating the magic and evolution of animation, before launching the companion YouTube series Animation Movies Revisited. He’s also the host of the Talking Comics Podcast, a personality-driven audio show focusing on comic books, film, music, and more. You’ll rarely catch him without headphones on his head and pancakes on his breath.

Neve Campbell will be returning for Scream 7, with none other than Kevin Williamson named as the film’s new director

It’s official! After sitting out Scream VI due to a controversial pay dispute, Neve Campbell will be reprising her role as Sidney Prescott in the next Scream movie. The news of Campbell’s return for Scream 7 was first broken by Campbell herself via Instagram. In the post, she wrote, “Hi All. I’m so excited to announce this news!!! Sidney Prescott is coming back!!!! It’s always been such a blast and an honor to get to play Sidney in the Scream movies. My appreciation for these films and for what they have meant to me, has never waned. I’m very happy and proud to say I’ve been asked, in the most respectful way, to bring Sidney back to the screen and I couldn’t be more thrilled!!!”

And, in a new twist even the most hardcore fans couldn’t have predicted, none other than the franchise’s original mastermind, original Scream screenwriter Kevin Williamson will be directing. As per Campbell, “While I’ve been so incredibly lucky to make these films with both the master of horror Wes Craven and the wonderfully talented Matt and Tyler team, I’ve dreamt for many years of how amazing it would be to make one of these movies with Kevin Williamson at the helm. And now it’s happening, Kevin Williamson is going to direct Scream 7! This was his baby and it’s his brilliant mind that dreamt up this world. Kevin is not just an inspiration as an artist but has been a dear friend for many years.”

Here’s Campbell’s original Instagram post:

To put it mildly, the production process for Scream 7 has been fraught. First, new franchise lead Melissa Barrera was fired due to some social media posts highly critical of Israel  (which some in Hollywood viewed as anti-semitic). Then, news broke that Jenna Ortega, who played Barrera’s sister in the films, also passed on coming back, with new director Christopher Landon following shortly after. He bluntly wrote on social media that “it was a dream job that turned into a nightmare.”

Interestingly, Kevin Williamson doesn’t seem to have a writing credit, with Guy Busick, who wrote the last two films with James Vanderbilt, getting sole credit in the screenplay pic Campbell posted (Vanderbilt has a co-story credit). This will only be Williamson’s second film as a director, with the last being 1999’s Teaching Mrs. Tingle. However, he’s arguably the most important creative force the franchise ever had outside of the late Wes Craven, with him having created all the characters when he wrote the first film. It’s great to see him return and get a turn in the director’s chair. Williamson made his own Instagram post to celebrate the news:

What do you think of this most recent Scream franchise twist? Are you glad Neve Campbell is back for Scream 7, with Kevin Williamson at the helm? Let us know in the comments! 

Hayao Miyazaki’s trippy and cerebral animated masterpiece, The Boy and the Heron, swoops onto Max as part of an exclusive deal.

Hayao Miyazaki’s cerebral fantasy film The Boy and the Heron is flying onto Max in the United States after winning the Best Animated Feature Oscar at this year’s awards ceremony. In addition to bringing Miyazaki’s latest breath-taking animated feature to the streaming platform, Warner Bros. Discovery is entering a multiyear pact with GKids to extend Max’s exclusive U.S. film streaming rights for Studio Ghibli. 

Per the new deal, Max will be the future home of The Boy and the Heron, with a premiere date to be announced later this year. The agreement also secures exclusivity on Max for other films in Studio Ghibli’s library, including Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Porco Rosso, and more.

“Our subscribers are always looking for unique stories, and we are happy to continue to offer these award-winning, critically acclaimed films and to add ‘The Boy and the Heron’ to our deep and rich Max content offering,” Elizabeth Bannan Atcheson, VP of content acquisitions, Warner Bros. Discovery, said in a statement.

After his mother dies during WW2, a young Japanese boy, Mahito Maki (Soma Santoki), is sent to live with his Aunt, Natsuko (Yoshino Kimura), with whom his munitions factory owner father is trying to start a new family. Traumatized by the death of his mother and struggling to accept his circumstances, Mahito finds himself lured into a fantasy world out of time and space by an antagonistic grey Heron (Masaki Suda). As Mahito struggles to make sense of the new macrocosm, he ends a vicious cycle of generational trauma, ultimately making peace with his new surroundings by accepting the winds of change. The Boy and the Heron is a beautiful, frequently trippy tribute to the act of honoring the memory of a loved one and forging a new path that begins with healing.

The English language dubbed version of the film features the voices of Christian Bale (Ford v Ferrari, Amsterdam, The Pale Blue Eye), Dave Bautista (Dune, Guardians of the Galaxy), Gemma Chan (The Creator, Eternals, Crazy Rich Asians), Willem Dafoe (At Eternity’s Gate, The Florida Project), Karen Fukuhara (The Boys, Suicide Squad), Mark Hamill (The Machine, House of Usher), Robert Pattinson (The Batman, Tenet, upcoming Mickey 17), and Florence Pugh (Oppenheimer, Black Widow, Little Women). Luca Padovan joins the cast as Mahito Maki, and Mamoudou Athie, Tony Revolori, and Dan Stevens are featured as the Parakeets. GKids handled casting and produced the English version in close consultation with Studio Ghibli, with ADR direction by Michael Sinterniklaas at NYAV Post, and an English script adaptation by Stephanie Sheh. The English language dub was produced under the SAG-AFTRA Foreign Dubbing Agreement.

When it hits the streaming service, will you watch The Boy and the Heron on Max? Let us know in the comments section below.

Shudder and AMC+ have unveiled a trailer and promo art for The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs season 6, premiering this month

Shudder announced a while back that they had renewed The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs for a supersized sixth season that will make sure Joe Bob is an even more consistent presence on the streaming service throughout the year. We previously heard that the Last Drive-In special A Tribute to Roger Corman, which is set to air on Shudder (and AMC+) March 15th, wasn’t considered part of the new season, with The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs season 6 officially beginning on March 29th – but now a trailer for season 6 has made its way online, and according to this trailer (which can be viewed in the embed above), they’ve decided to go ahead and count A Tribute to Roger Corman as part of the season. Since this special kicks it off, The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs season 6 begins this Friday!

Some promo art for the new season was also unveiled, and you can check that out at the bottom of this article.

On The Last Drive-In, the world’s foremost drive-in movie critic hosts eclectic horror movies, talking about their merits, histories and significance to genre cinema.

The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs season 6 is taking a different approach than the previous seasons, where double features aired on a weekly basis. This time, episodes will air every other Friday night, and instead of the usual double features, Joe Bob will be presenting “single titles and surprises”. Single titles every other Friday is how Shudder intends to spread the episodes out over a longer period of the year (apparently, the season will continue into September). Deadline noted that The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs, which was previously filmed in Texas and then New Jersey, is now set up at the Senoia, Georgia studios where the Walking Dead shows have been filmed, and this location gives Joe Bob access to a backlot for the first time.

Joe Bob provided the following statement: “As everyone knows, you should never invite me into your home, because I always show up. Shudder has graciously invited me to stick around for a sixth year, and I intend to use that kindness to haunt your phones, laptops and big-screen TVs with the most ghastly examples of perversity in the history of cinema. Plus a few old jokes and some celebrity guests who will still return our phone calls. Put it all together and it spells PARTAY.“

Courtney Thomasma of Shudder owner AMC Networks said, “We’re delighted to bring Joe Bob, Darcy and the rest of The Last Drive-In Team back for our biggest season yet of crazy, scary and crazy-scary movies and specials, with the most entertaining commentary on TV. Joe Bob will be hosting more movie nights than any previous season and we can’t wait to continue the Friday night party with our Shudder family.“

The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs is produced by Matt Manjourides and Justin Martell and directed by Austin Jennings. Joe Bob is joined on every episode by Diana Prince as Darcy the Mail Girl.

Will you be watching The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs season 6? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Ari Aster’s mysterious Western film for A24, Eddington, casts Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, Joaquin Phoenix, Austin Butler, and more!

Ari Aster, the twisted filmmaker behind Hereditary, Midsommar, and Beau Is Afraid, is lining up his most star-studded feature yet, Eddington. Rumored to be a Western, Eddington is moseying close to production with Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us), Emma Stone (Poor Things), Austin Butler (Dune: Part Two), Joaquin Phoenix (Beau Is Afraid), Luke Grimes (Yellowstone), Deirdre O’Connell (Outer Range), Michael Ward (Top Boy), and Clifton Collins Jr. (Jockey) joining the primary cast. 

The mysterious project hails from A24, with Aster directing from his own script. Additionally, Aster produces alongside Lars Knudsen through their Square Peg studio. Darius Khondji, the Academy Award-winning cinematographer behind Bardo and Uncut Gems, is on board to make the film stunning, with production beginning as early as this week.

Aster is one of Hollywood’s most talked about filmmakers of recent memory. His 2018 horror film Hereditary, starring Toni Collette, Milly Shapiro, Gabriel Byrne, and Alex Wolff, still gives people nightmares. The visceral and disturbing film about a grieving family haunted by tragic and otherworldly occurrences put Aster on the map as a talent to watch. Aster followed Hereditary with the Swedish horror film Midsommar in 2019. Starring Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, Vilhelm Blomgren, Will Poulter, and William Jackson Harper, Midsommar tells the trippy tale of a couple who travels to Northern Europe to visit a rural hometown’s fabled Swedish mid-summer festival. What starts as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.

Finally, Aster’s Beau Is Afraid stars Joaquin Phoenix as a mild-mannered but anxiety-ridden man who confronts his darkest fears after his mother dies as he embarks on an epic, Kafkaesque odyssey back home.

Beau Is Afraid only earned $12 million worldwide, but the film’s underperformance hasn’t soured Aster’s reputation as a risk-taking filmmaker able to produce thought-provoking films. Eddington is packed with A-list celebrities, including Emma Stone, who won a Best Actress Oscar for her riveting performance in Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things at the 96th Academy Awards.

We’re anxious to learn more about Eddington beyond its Western setting. How about you? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

About the Author

Born and raised in New York, then immigrated to Canada, Steve Seigh has been a JoBlo.com editor, columnist, and critic since 2012. He started with Ink & Pixel, a column celebrating the magic and evolution of animation, before launching the companion YouTube series Animation Movies Revisited. He’s also the host of the Talking Comics Podcast, a personality-driven audio show focusing on comic books, film, music, and more. You’ll rarely catch him without headphones on his head and pancakes on his breath.