Having directed Brendan Fraser to a Best Actor Oscar in his last film, “The Whale,” filmmaker Darren Aronofsky is setting his sights on his next project. A crime thriller called “Caught Stealing,” based on the book penned by Charlie Huston, the project has landed a rising young actor. The Hollywood Reporter reveals that Austin Butler, hot off the massive global success of “Dune: Part Two” and his own Best Actor Oscar nomination for “Elvis,” is set to take a lead part as a former baseball player in the crime drama.

Continue reading ‘Caught Stealing’: Austin Butler To Star In Darren Aronofsky’s ’90s NYC Crime Pic At Sony at The Playlist.

Continue reading Darren Aronofsky’s Next Project? An Elon Musk Biopic For A24 at The Playlist.

When you have a film titled “Pi” and it’s on the verge of celebrating its 25th anniversary, what better day to re-release the film in theaters than March 14, aka Pi Day? It just makes sense. And that’s exactly what’s happening.

READ MORE: Darren Aronofsky Has A ‘Black Swan’ Musical In The Works

As seen in the new trailer for the upcoming re-release of “Pi,” Darren Aronofsky’s iconic debut film is returning to theaters on Pi Day to celebrate its 25th birthday.

Continue reading ‘Pi’ IMAX Trailer: Darren Aronofsky’s Debut Film Returns To Theaters With An 8K Restoration For Its 25th Anniversary at The Playlist.

Darren Aronofsky‘s latest film, “The Whale,” hit theaters last weekend, so now audiences get a glimpse at Brandon Fraser‘s buzzy lead performance (read The Playlist’s review of the film here). But what does Aronofsky have next on the horizon? EW reports (via The AV Club) that it may be a musical; and not just any musical, but one of his 2010 smash hit “Black Swan” with Natalie Portman.

Continue reading Darren Aronofsky Has A ‘Black Swan’ Musical In The Works at The Playlist.

To say that A24 has deployed an interesting marketing strategy for “The Whale” is an understatement. After a rapturous debut at the Venice Film Festival, where critics were falling over themselves to give the Oscar to Brendan Fraser right then and there, there were months without any new marketing materials for the film. And finally, about a month before the film was released, there was one trailer, which didn’t even really talk about the plot of the film or offer a real glimpse at this amazing performance that people were raving about.

Continue reading ‘The Whale’ Trailer: Brendan Fraser Gives It His All In Darren Aronofsky’s Family Drama at The Playlist.

After a hugely positive reception when the film premiered at the Venice Film Festival, it seemed as if Brendan Fraser was going to run away with all of the Best Acting awards thanks to his performance in “The Whale.” However, with the film being seen by a wider audience since its debut in theaters, there are folks who are upset with Darren Aronofsky’s film and its portrayal of a fat person. 

Continue reading Darren Aronofsky Says ‘The Whale’ Fat Suit Controversy “Makes No Sense To Me” at The Playlist.

Last month, Darren Aronofsky‘s first film in five years, “The Whale,” had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, with critics praising Brendan Fraser‘s performance as a 600-pound gay man. But EW reports (via an interview with Variety), that Aronofsky initially attempted to cast an obese actor in the part before going with Fraser. And since Fraser looks to be the Oscar Best Actor frontrunner at the moment, it’s fascinating that Aronofsky looked elsewhere for the role first.

Continue reading ‘The Whale’: Darren Aronofsky Says He Couldn’t Find An Obese Actor Who Could ‘Pull Off The Emotion’ Before He Cast Brendan Fraser at The Playlist.

Continue reading Darren Aronofsky Says His R-Rated ‘Batman’ Reboot Pitch Didn’t Happen Because He Was “10 To 15 Years” Too Early at The Playlist.

Darren Aronofsky loves reclaiming the broken, the damaged, the forgotten. Take his magnum opus, 2008’s “The Wrestler,” the story of an aging WWE entertainer who gives it all for one more shot at glory. While 2005’s “Sin City” had already brought star Mickey Rourke back into the Hollywood fold, here his return was concreted, completed, the talk of the town, and etched onto shining plaques.

Continue reading ‘The Whale’ Review: Brendan Fraser And Sadie Sink Are A Heartbreaking Duo In Darren Aronofsky’s Best Film Since ‘The Wrestler’ [Venice] at The Playlist.

Darren Aronofsky returns to the Venice Film Festival this year with his first movie since 2017’s “mother!,” “The Whale.” There’s plenty to celebrate about the upcoming film. It’s the first film by Aronofsky in five years, A24‘s introduction to the Lido, and the return of Brendan Fraser as a leading man. But Fraser’s starring role in “The Whale” is unlike anything he’s ever done before, and meeting that challenge pushed the actor to new places with his art.

Continue reading Brendan Fraser On His Role In ‘The Whale’: “I Gave It Everything I’ve Got” at The Playlist.

If you’re sick of blockbusters and have a bad taste in your mouth from the umpteenth rash of announcements out of Comic-Con—hey, we get it—get ready to rejoice. This onslaught is almost over, and a new one is brewing—the fall film festival barrage. The Venice Film Festival announced its staggeringly good line-up today, the Toronto International Film Festival is later this week, and the New York Film Festival and Telluride Film Festival will soon follow.

Continue reading A24 First Venice Look: Brendan Fraser In Darren Aronofsky’s ‘The Whale,’ Tilda Swinton In ‘The Eternal Daughter’ at The Playlist.

The Venice Film Festival kicks off next month on August 31, and it already looks like a killer year. And Netflix has a monopoly on big world premieres at the festival, as Noah Baumbach’s “White Noise” was announced as the festival’s opening night film this morning. There’s other highly-anticipated picture likely to debut at the festival, too, though, and two of those are apparently from directors whose last films came out in 2017.

Continue reading Venice 2022: Martin McDonagh’s ‘The Banshees Of Inisherin’ & Darren Aronofsky’s ‘The Whale’ Reported To Premiere At The Lido at The Playlist.

Darren Aronofsky is one of the most interesting and acclaimed filmmakers working today. So, when he puts his name on a project, even as an executive producer, we take notice. That’s exactly what he did with the Tribeca standout, “Catch the Fair One.”

As seen in the trailer for “Catch the Fair One,” the new thriller follows the story of a young boxer, Kaylee, as she has to pick up the pieces of her life.

Continue reading ‘Catch The Fair One’ Trailer: Josef Kubota Wladyka’s Tribeca Standout Thriller Is Produced By Darren Aronofsky at The Playlist.

Darren Aronofsky is one of the most polarizing filmmakers working today. It says a lot when your most commercial film is “Black Swan,” right? Well, it would seem that his filmmaking work has turned him into a bit of a hardened creator, totally not scared at all of his hate mail that he receives.

While conducting a masterclass at Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival (via Variety), Darren Aronofky talked about the hate mail he has received over the course of his long filmmaking career.

Continue reading Darren Aronofsky Says He Gets “The Best Hate Mail Ever” & Teases New Project, 20 Years In The Making at The Playlist.

There are plenty of great filmmaking duos in Hollywood, pairs like Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker or Pedro Almodóvar and Penélope Cruz. In his two decades working in film, some of Darren Aronofsky‘s best movies have been made in collaboration with cinematographer Matthew Libatique. But in a new interview, Libatique reveals at one point he and Aronofsky fought too much he refused to work on “The Wrestler.”

READ MORE: Darren Aronofsky’s Next Project Will Be A “Small Film”; DP Matthew Libatique Will Shoot It

In an interview with the Team Deakins podcast, Libatique talks about his relationship with Aronofsky as that of squabbling brothers who love each other.

Continue reading Cinematographer Matthew Libatique Says He Didn’t Shoot ‘The Wrestler’ Because He & Darren Aronofsky Fought Too Much At The Time at The Playlist.

In the ever-surprising game of Hollywood Lottery, if you have a ticket with Darren Aronofsky, Jared Leto, and Blumhouse, you’re the big winner.

According to Deadline, Darren Aronofsky’s next film is set to be “Adrift,” and he’s reteaming with his “Requiem for a Dream” star Jared Leto and superstar horror producer, Jason Blum, to bring it to life.

Continue reading Darren Aronofsky Teaming With Jared Leto & Blumhouse For His Supernatural Film ‘Adrift’ at The Playlist.

Wondering what filmmaker Darren Aronofsky is up to? We’ve been thinking the same. Well, he’s got a new project called “The Whale,” being set up at A24 and starring Brendan Fraser. “The Whale” is based on the critically- acclaimed 2012 play of the same name by Samuel D. Hunter and tells the story of a 600lbs recluse and father trying to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter, who is something of a wild and sharped-tongue hellion.

Continue reading Darren Aronofsky Teams With Brendan Fraser & A24 For Redemptive Father/Daughter Dramedy ‘The Whale’ at The Playlist.

Matthew Libatique is a busy cinematographer. He had “Birds of Prey” and “The Prom” come out this year, and is shooting Olivia Wilde’s next film, “Don’t Worry Darling.” Now, the two-time Oscar-nominated cinematographer will reunite with frequent collaborator, Darren Aronofsky, for his next project.

READ MORE: Cinematographer Matthew Libatique Faces Four Years In Poland Prison For Assault

In an interview with Rappler, Libatique teased the next project he has lined up after “Don’t Worry Darling” wraps.

Continue reading Darren Aronofsky’s Next Project Will Be A “Small Film”; DP Matthew Libatique Will Shoot It at The Playlist.

Maybe I’m strange, but the idea of a retirement home is pretty damn nice. Even though I’m decades away from that fate, having a place described as a luxurious, college-like atmosphere to live out my twilight years sounds…lovely. But if I’m to believe “Some Kind of Heaven,” the illusion is about to be destroyed.

READ MORE: 2020 Fall Film Preview: 40 Most Anticipated Films To Watch

As seen in the trailer for “Some Kind of Heaven,” a new documentary coming soon from director Lance Oppenheim, even one of the most revered and beautiful retirement communities has a seedy underbelly.

Continue reading ‘Some Kind Of Heaven’ Trailer: Darren Aronofsky-Produced Doc Looks At The Underbelly Of A Luxury Retirement Home at The Playlist.

Every Tuesday, discriminating viewers are confronted with a flurry of choices: new releases on disc and on-demand, vintage, and original movies on any number of streaming platforms, catalog titles making a splash on Blu-ray or 4K. This biweekly column sifts through all of those choices to pluck out the movies most worth your time, no matter how you’re watching. 

Since we last met, a flurry of prestige new releases have hit the streaming services – awards season in full swing, it seems, even this peculiar, couch-bound version of it.

Continue reading The 11 Best Movies To Buy Or Stream This Week: ‘The Trial Of The Chicago 7,’ ‘American Utopia’ & More at The Playlist.

Before the trailer for “Inception” introduced the world to the bassy, brassy “braaaams” that dominated movie trailers for years, there was one song that could be heard in virtually every movie trailer of the early ’00s, Clint Mansell‘s “Lux Aeterna.” Now, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Darren Aronofsky‘s gut-punching “Requiem for a Dream,” Lionsgate has released a new recording of the iconic song.

Continue reading ‘Requiem For A Dream’: Lionsgate Releases 20th Anniversary Performance Of “Lux Aeterna” By Kronos Quartet at The Playlist.

The four leads in Darren Aronofsky’s “Requiem for a Dream” are all incredible actors that give truly great performances in a film that was clearly physically and emotionally demanding. And with that acclaim, folks like Jared Leto and Marlon Wayans were able to prove that they were up-and-coming talents that were destined for bright futures. But in an alternate world, neither would have starred, as the filmmaker recently explained in a Vulture Oral History, neither Wayans nor Leto were his first choices for the film.

Continue reading ‘Requiem For A Dream’: Tobey Maguire & Dave Chappelle Turned Down Roles In Darren Aronofsky’s Film at The Playlist.

Two decades later, Darren Aronofsky’s “Requiem for a Dream” remains one of the best films in the acclaimed director’s filmography. Some might argue that it’s his greatest. And though the imagery seen in the film is tough for viewers to stomach, at times, that doesn’t mean ‘Requiem’ doesn’t deserve the 4K treatment.

READ MORE: Latest Stephen King Novella Draws Movie Deals From Darren Aronofsky, Ben Stiller, And Netflix

In honor of the film’s 20th anniversary and the release of Lionsgate’s newly 4K remastered, Director’s Cut of “Requiem of a Dream,” we have an exclusive look at a clip from the disc.

Continue reading ‘Requiem For A Dream’ 4K Exclusive: Ellen Burstyn Talks Becoming A Camera Mount For Darren Aronofsky at The Playlist.

Zack Snyder‘s 2009 “Watchmen” is largely considered to be the most faithful comicbook film adaptations of all time, nearly to a fault. Though virtually identical to the original graphic novel, critics of the time found the source material didn’t translate too well to film.

READ MORE: Regina King Doesn’t Think ‘Watchmen’ Season 2 Can Happen, But Says “The Possibilities Are Infinite”

But one aspect of the film that was completely different from the original was the ending.

Continue reading Watchmen Screenwriter Says Darren Aronofsky Came Up With Film’s Ending, And Paul Greengrass’s Version Was Set In Present Day at The Playlist.

Stephen King is an incredibly prolific author, but he is also very effective at getting movie deals. King’s latest book, a collection of four novellas titled “If It Bleeds,” already produced three movie deals since it got published in May. The buyers? Darren Aronofsky, Ben Stiller, and Blumhouse/Netflix.

READ MORE: ‘Revival’: Mike Flanagan Describes His New “Cosmic Horror” Stephen King Film As “Bleak And Mean”

The scoop comes from Deadline, stating that three out of the four tales in the book have already been snapped up for movie adaptations.

Continue reading Latest Stephen King Novella Draws Movie Deals From Darren Aronofsky, Ben Stiller, And Netflix at The Playlist.