A24 might have another Ari Aster misfire on their hands — and that’s bad news for original, auteur-driven films, which are already struggling to get greenlit.
Coming off “Beau is Afraid,” Aster’s Western satire “Eddington,” which opens in 2100+ screens, is aiming for $5M weekend in its nationwide debut. We don’t have a confirmed budget on this one, the range is anywhere between $40M-$60M.
Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal star in the film, set in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as a rivalry sparks between a sheriff and mayor in their small town. The film premiered at Cannes where it earned mixed reviews.
The current tally has “Eddington” sitting at 65 on Metacritic and 67 on Rotten Tomatoes.
In my Cannes dispatch, I wrote that the first half of “Eddington” doesn’t hit the mark, content to observe America’s descent into ideological chaos from a distance. The stakes feel low, almost farcical—until they don’t.
It’s about halfway through when “Eddington” changes. What had been comic becomes tragic. The satire morphs into a neo-western, a political thriller, and finally, something close to horror. The way Aster stages the relentless action is utterly gripping.
In 2023, “Beau Is Afraid,” also starring Joaquin Phoenix, was a major financial disappointment for A24 and Aster. With a budget reportedly around $35M, the film earned only $11M worldwide at the box office, well short of recouping its production and marketing costs. Industry sources estimate that A24 ultimately absorbed a loss of around $35M on the project.