Ari Aster Shrugs Off Father’s Warning and Writes Eddington Anyway

Ari Aster says his father offered blunt feedback after the punishing theatrical run of Beau Is Afraid: maybe direct the next project, but “let someone else write it.” The three‑hour nightmare comedy cost about $35 million and sold only $12.3 million in tickets, leaving backer A24 nursing an estimated $35 million shortfall. Appearing on Marc Maron’s podcast, the filmmaker admitted that advice “might have been right,” yet also confessed he would now trim the film’s exhausting final hour.

Instead of handing his keyboard to a collaborator, Aster doubled down: he wrote and directed Eddington, a COVID‑era western satire that bowed in Cannes competition on 16 May 2025 and reached U.S. cinemas 18 July.

Festival reaction was polarised—applause for its political bite countered by complaints of narrative drift—setting the tone for Stateside reviews. The picture carries a reported $25 million budget and draws on a marquee ensemble of Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone and Pedro Pascal to replay 2020’s paranoia in a fictional New Mexico town.

Early grosses sit at $9.1 million, moderate numbers that analysts say could improve once VOD and an already‑dated July‑2025 disc window kick in. A24’s faith stems partly from Aster’s earlier track record: Hereditary earned nearly $90 million on a $10 million budget, while Midsommar approached $50 million against production costs under $9 million. Those successes, he told Maron, still give him license to experiment—even if the last experiment detonated at the box office.

Whether the director will keep writing remains open; he jokes that another flop will confirm his dad’s instincts. For now, Eddington shows him ignoring paternal wisdom and trusting his voice again—risking further division to see if audiences follow him back into the wilderness.