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.

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