Director Ari Aster Explains How Joaquin Phoenix Fainted On Set Of New Film ‘Beau Is Afraid’ At Surprise Screening

After posting giant per screen numbers at four theaters last weekend, A24’s Beau Is Afraid  jumps to 926 for the distributor’s third outing with Ari Aster. It’s a very different film from his horror favorites Hereditary and Midsommar but one the distributor hopes will cement the director’s place as a modern auteur.

Ari Aster has made a career out of the horror and twisted comedy of anxiety. Regardless of where each individual audience member is in their life or the experiences they’ve had, this is what makes films such as “Hereditary” and “Midsommar” universally loved and relatable.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Joaquin Phoenix “just started screaming” on the set of Ari Aster’s “Beau Is Afraid” before filming one of the nightmare comedy’s most intense scenes. During a podcast interview for A24, the Oscar winner and Aster remembered filming a scene in which the eponymous Beau is taking a bath. Aster wanted to shoot the scene in one take, which got Phoenix “spinning in a panic.” The actor said it was important he felt “free” enough while filming so the scene could “reveal itself however it does when it does.” “I’m a little reluctant to say this, because it sounds so fucking stupid and just like actor shit, but I remember… what I did before was I did the scene, but I wasn’t really volatile. I was still nervous. I was still… In some way, I was controlling a little bit. I was controlling what people thought about me. I didn’t want to let people down. And it was like new crew were early on set. And I remember just realizing I had to do something that was fucking stupid, and I just so didn’t want to do it, but I just knew.”

Ari Aster‘s “Beau Is Afraid” isn’t even in theaters yet, but the “Midsommar” and “Hereditary” already has his fourth film lined up. World Of Reel has the scoop: Aster will start shooting his next movie, “Eddington,” this summer, with Joaquin Phoenix set to lead its ensemble cast.

Beau Is Afraid posted the top per-screen average of the year so far and the best limited opening for distributor A24 since Uncut Gems, grossing an estimated $320,396 at four locations in New York and LA for a hefty per-screen average of $80K+ in sold-out shows on both coasts. (Uncut Gems with Adam Sandler had a $105k PSA on five screens in 2019 — a limited-opening record at the time.)

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Ari Aster’s latest anxiety-inducer “Beau Is Afraid” is taking the indie box office by storm. The A24 film, which stars Joaquin Phoenix as an apprehensive man who endures a lot over the course of three hours, grossed $320,396 on four screens in New York and Los Angeles. Those ticket sales translate to a sizable $80,099 per location, the biggest screen average of the year. It’s also the second-best per-screen-average for A24 after Adam Sandler’s “Uncut Gems.” Now, “Beau Is Afraid” needs to sustain its momentum as it expands nationwide next weekend. That’s been a struggle for plenty of indies in post-pandemic times, although A24 has managed to propel films like “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “The Whale” to box office success. But “Tár,” “Triangle of Sadness” and other acclaimed arthouse films weren’t as successful in parlaying their huge screen averages — which is the key metric for platform releases — to robust theatrical runs. Those films fizzled after struggling to connect with mainstream audiences.

“Hamilton” opened on Broadway in 2015 and for the past eight years has consistently been the hottest ticket on the Great White Way.Way back when the 11-time Tony Award-winning musical first premiered at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, critics and fans alike were dazzled by the original hip-hop reimagining of Secretary of State Alexander Hamilton’s life.By 2017, some seats were going for as high as $42.5K for a pair of tickets according to Financial Planner LA.That’s more than the average starting price for a minivan in 2023.However, as the years have gone by, prices have become much more reasonable to see Broadway’s buzziest, most talked about production.In fact, at the time of publication, some tickets are only $117 before fees on Vivid Seats.For those keeping score at home, that’s 0.002% of $42,500.Fans that want to get up close and personal with Hamilton, Burr, Washington, Lafayette and King George may have to shell out a bit more – but not much.Ticket prices for lower-level orchestra seats can be procured for around $180 before fees depending on the show.Not in New York City in the “room where it happens?”Not a problem.You can still get your “shot” to see the show in person.“Hamilton” is on tour in cities like Toronto, Virginia and Minneapolis.All prices listed above are subject to fluctuation.“Hamilton” abides by the standard eight-show a week schedule.That means matinees on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.As expected, the lights go dark on Mondays at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.If you want a closer look, “Hamilton’s” complete calendar including show dates, start times and links to buy tickets can be found here.The show runs 2 hours 45 minutes including an intermission.Although powerhouse names Lin-Manuel, Daveed Diggs,

Filmmaker Ari Aster has oedipal issues. The artist has deeply complicated and unresolved issues with his mother that go back to his earliest movies (to this day, Aster won’t really talk about his mother in the press and has hinted at a troubled, rocky relationship).

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Director Ari Aster says it took about six months for Joaquin Phoenix to sign on to star in his new movie, “Beau Is Afraid.” “You get on your hands and knees and beg,” Aster jokes about his first meeting with the Oscar winner. “He’s the best. He’s the greatest. He’s the prince. And those eyes. He could be so naked, so exposed, and he’s funny. He’s a funny guy.” Aster (“Hereditary” and “Midsommar”) and his cast celebrated the Los Angeles premiere of the A24 film Monday night at the DGA in West Hollywood. “It’s when I first saw ‘I’m Still Here’ that I knew I needed to work with this guy,” Aster said. “One, it’s such a funny film, and two, that performance is really a brilliant comic performance. But it’s also because as a gesture that movie is suicidal. What he was doing with his own name there is so crazy and funny and sick. It’s like a sick thing to do. Since then, I’ve known I’ve wanted to work with him.”

Joaquin Phoenix and director Ari Aster have brought their new film Beau Is Afraid to L.A.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Poor Beau. Nearly half a century on Earth, and he’s never really lived. Sure, he was born — that much director Ari Aster depicts from Beau’s point of view at the outset of his wildly self-indulgent and frequently surreal third feature, “Beau Is Afraid,” lingering long enough to witness the infant’s umbilical cord being snipped — but what has Beau done with his life since then? Can it be said that he ever really developed an identity apart from his successful single mom, Mona Wasserman, who haunts the film for the better part of three hours before finally revealing herself? Not since “Psycho” has an off-screen mother loomed so large over a film’s protagonist, played here by Joaquin Phoenix, cowering from the world. The Hitchcock comparison could be misleading, since Aster (who helmed indie studio A24’s two most successful horror movies, “Hereditary” and “Midsommar”) makes a surprising tonal shift away from traditional nightmare material for this deranged road trip, which follows Beau cross-country — and through several substitute families — to face his intimidating Jewish mom.

At a surprise New York City screening, or rather unveiling, of Beau Is Afraid a few days ago, the Q&A moderator, actress Emma Stone, reportedly began by asking writer-director Ari Aster, “Are you okay, Ari?”

Keanu Reeves is teaming up with Jonah Hill for a new film called Outcome.The new Apple Studios film has been co-written by Hill with Erza Woods. Hill will also direct the feature, which is described as a “dark Hollywood story” according to The Hollywood Reporter.Outcome will reportedly tell the story of Reef, who will be played by Reeves.

Joaquin Phoenix kept a low profile at a screening for his highly anticipated new movie Beau Is Afraid.

That’s a wrap for Joker: Folie à Deux!

Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix on the set of the upcoming Joker sequel – Joker: Folie à Deux.The pair can be seen dancing on the staircase that was made famous in the first Joker movie, which is situated near Shakespeare Avenue in the Bronx, New York.Both are wearing smudged clown make-up and can be seen dancing, smoking and laughing in the shots together. There is also one when they appear to be kissing.Gaga will play Harley Quinn in the upcoming film, which is rumoured to be a musical.

In short order, indie filmmaker Ari Aster has become one of the most exciting writer/directors on the planet. Following the one-two punch of two amazing, psychologically bruising horrors, “Hereditary” and “Midsommar,” the filmmaker returns with his most ambitious film, “Beau Is Afraid” which stars Joaquin Phoenix, is a dark, surreal, black comedy nightmare odyssey.

Academy Award-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix is a man committed to his craft, able to garner attention on and off-screen. He certainly did just that when he fainted while filming a scene with Patti LuPone in his new film, "Beau is Afraid." In a Q&A at a surprise screening for the upcoming movie, writer-director Ari Aster revealed that Phoenix actually ruined a shot by passing out. "There was a scene that was very intense for Patti, and it was a shot that was on Patti, it was not on him and all of a sudden he fell out of frame," Aster said of Phoenix.

Joaquin Phoenix suffered an injury on the set of his new movie Beau is Afraid.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Emma Stone was blunt. “Are you okay, man?” she asked Ari Aster after a surprise screening of his latest film, “Beau Is Afraid” at Brooklyn’s Alamo Drafthouse on a rainy Saturday afternoon. Audiences around the country may be asking variations of the same question after they emerge from the occasionally creepy, often hilarious and deeply weird horror-comedy. It’s a movie about a neurotic man (Joaquin Phoenix) with serious mommy issues, who must endure a phantasmagoric odyssey as he labors to get home following a family tragedy. Over the course of his journey he will be kidnapped by a suburban couple (Nathan Lane and Amy Ryan), stalked by a hulking vet with PTSD, menaced by a paint-drinking teenage girl and embraced by an experimental theater troupe. There’s also an animated sequence, as well as a recurring gag involving Phoenix’s distended testicles, plus a sex scene with Parker Posey that may rank among the wackiest ever committed to film. Oh, and did we mention the whole thing is three hours long?