When discussing the career of Ari Aster, the acclaimed director of “Hereditary,” it truly seems his father has some thoughts on his screenwriting endeavors.
In a recent episode of the podcast “WTF with Marc Maron,” Aster revealed that after the disappointing box office performance of his 2023 film “Beau Is Afraid,” his father suggested he might want to focus solely on directing.
Aster recounted, “After ‘Beau Is Afraid’ didn’t do well, my dad mentioned, ‘Maybe you should consider not writng your next project.’ He might have had a point.”
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Despite this advice, Aster forged ahead and penned his follow-up feature titled “Eddington,” which is currently showing in theaters. Both A24 and Aster are optimistic about this small-town dramedy featuring Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal, especially after “Beau” managed to earn only $12 million globally against its $35 million production budget.
Aster expressed feeling “somewhat disheartened” by both the critical reception and commercial failure of “Beau,” but noted that several encouraging messages from fans helped him navigate through that disappointment.
“I was quite upset that it was received so poorly,” he reflected. “Many people reached out to tell me they appreciated it…that support meant a lot. Still, it was disheartening because it lost money; I wouldn’t say it was outright hated, but there certainly wasn’t any consensus.”
He elaborated further: “You absorb all these reactions once your film is released and realize it’s out of your control; you can’t prevent people’s opinions or responses.It’s an experience where you learn something… Regardless of how people reacted, I’m proud for sticking with my vision. Yet there are moments when I think about whether losing such a importent portion of viewers for that choice was worth it. I feel like I may have alienated some audience members in theaters.”