Coming off “Honey Don’t!” Ethan Coen is now preparing to direct the third film in his planned queer trilogy. With two entries already completed — both met with mixed to negative reviews — Coen is setting his sights on “Go, Beavers!” which had been previously reported to be in development.
A well-placed source now tells me that Margaret Qualley and Aubrey Plaza are in talks to star. The screenplay is finished, though no distributor is yet attached. Like “Drive-Away Dolls” and “Honey Don’t!” — each made for around $20 million — this project continues Coen’s collaboration with his wife and longtime editor Tricia Cooke.
Unlike the first two crime-caper–tinged films, “Go, Beavers!” shifts genres entirely. The story centers on a lesbian college rowing team that reunites years later — only for members to begin mysteriously dying. Coen has described the project as a “genre film,” comparing it to Walkabout and Deliverance — but with a focus on “woman and nature” rather than “man and nature.”
After decades of celebrated filmmaking alongside his brother Joel, Ethan’s recent work with Cooke has been, shall we say, a creative detour: a “lesbian B-movie trilogy” — a trio of campy, queer, and genre-blending stories inspired by classic exploitation cinema.
According to reports, Coen and Cooke have been developing the concept for more than twenty years. Originally envisioned as a way to explore genre filmmaking through a queer lens, the scripts were designed to be playful, erotic, and unapologetically unrestrained.
As Cooke told The New Yorker, their goal is “to reclaim genre from the straight male gaze,” channeling the excess and absurdity of B-movies through a distinctly lesbian perspective.
In the meantime, Ethan recently premiered his Off-Broadway play “Let’s Love!,” which also stars Aubrey Plaza. The production — a screwball romantic comedy — has drawn mixed reviews, but seems to further cement Ethan’s current obsession with female-driven, and genre-bending storytelling.