Hereditary and Midsommar mastermind Ari Aster is sticking with A24 for his new film Disappointment Blvd., with Joaquin Phoenix set to star. According to Deadline, A24 is poised to produce and finance the film, after beating out several studios for the in-demand feature.
Plot details are being kept under wraps for the time being. However, we do know that Aster will write and direct the project, which has been described as “an intimate, decades-spanning portrait of one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time.” Joining A24 on the production effort will be Aster and Lars Knudsen through their Square Peg studio.
It took some doing to get Phoenix to sign on to the film, especially since his Oscar-winning performance as the Jester of Genocide in Todd Phillips's Joker has made him a red-hot commodity in Hollywood. Granted Phoenix's talents are always in-demand, but an award-winning performance certainly raises the property value, if you know what I mean.
Production for Disappointment Blvd. will likely kick up before Phoenix shoots the Ridley Scott biopic Kitbag, in which he'll star as the French military leader and emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. The film is an original and personal look at Napoleon’s origins and his swift, ruthless climb to the status of emperor, viewed through the prism of his addictive and often volatile relationship with his wife and one true love, Josephine. The intention of the film is to capture Napoleon’s famous battles, relentless ambition, and astounding strategic mind as an extraordinary military leader and war visionary.
I don't know about you, but the idea of Aster and Phoenix teaming up for a project has me all kinds of excited. Hereditary and Midsommar are two of my favorite films from the past decade, and I can only hope that both talents are looking to terrify us with this next project.
