As I reported last month, Ethan Coen is set to direct “Honey Don’t” which is supposed to be the second film of a planned Lesbian B-movie trilogy that he and his partner/wife, Tricia Cooke, will co-write and co-direct.
Deadline is now confirming my initial report of the film and further adding that the cast will be composed of Aubrey Plaza, Margaret Qualley and Chris Evans. I’ve been hearing this one starts production in March.
Back in June, Coen had confirmed that his upcoming “Drive-Away Dolls” would be part of a peculiarly titled trilogy, co-written with Cooke:
Over the past 20 years, we [Ethan and Cooke] have been writing this lesbian B movie trilogy. Not really a trilogy, but the idea was to write three queer B-movies that I always thought would just kind of sit in the drawer and our kids would look at one day when they were old and get some laughs. And now we’ve made one of them. And we have another one written. The problem with writing two is then you’re obliged to do a third because nobody does two. You gotta do a trilogy. I don’t even know the word for two corresponding to a trilogy.
I’ve seen “Drive Away Dolls,” currently under embargo, and am more than happy that Coen/Cooke are working on this trilogy. Expect a kooky good time with ‘Dolls’ — lots of over-the-top sex, violence and humor.
Of course, you’re probably wondering, why is Coen, as a white cis male, not being blasted for making queer films. If you go by today’s logic, shouldn’t a queer filmmaker be making these films?
Well, it turns out that Cooke identifies as a lesbian. Yes, Coen married, and had two children, with a lesbian. In a recent interview with Movie Maker, Cooke tried to explain the peculiarities of their marriage, which sounds like an incredibly fascinating relationship.
Being married to Ethan and being queer, there’s always a little disconnect sometimes. I wanted to be able to make queer films as well. We have a very non-traditional marriage and relationship where there’s a bigger unit. I have a partner and Ethan has another partner. It’s not easy sometimes and it can be very difficult for even our friends and family to understand. You navigate it one day at a time. We’ve been in this kind of dynamic for over 20 years, and we still take it one day at a time.
Good for them. Their relationship is healthy enough, and in a good place, that they’re willing to work and direct films together, which can be very stressful and draining.
Hopefully, after this second film with Cooke, Ethan can go back to teaming up with his brother Joel on their next project which is, supposedly, going to be written in the very near future.