Disappointment Blvd. Ari Aster's Joaquin Phoenix Is Now "Beau a Peur" - See the First Poster

Ari Aster previews his latest film A24, 'Beau Is Afraid,' starring Joaquin Phoenix.

Originally titled "Disappointment Blvd.", the feature film in preparation should be released in theaters in 2023. The poster shows what appears to be the child version of the Phoenix character, dressed in silk pajamas. IndieWire has confirmed "Beau Is Afraid" as the new track for "Disappointment Blvd".

"Midsommar" director Aster previously said his next film would be a four-hour "nightmare comedy" when "Disappointment" was officially announced in February 2021. Although the plot remains under wraps, the film has been described as an "intimate portrait spanning decades of one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time."

Aster directed a 2011 short also titled 'Beau', although it's unclear if 'Beau Is Afraid' is related to the short. In this short film, a neurotic middle-aged man's trip to visit his mother is delayed when her keys are mysteriously taken from her door. He is then haunted by an increasingly sinister chain of upsetting events.

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Aster previously told IndieWire that his next feature is definitely not a horror movie. "It might take me a few movies before I get back to [horror], but I love horror and I'm sure I'll be back," Aster said.

He added a caveat: "Head trauma will ALWAYS have a place in my films."

Along with Phoenix, Nathan Lane, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Patti LuPone, Amy Ryan and Parker Posey are also playing. Henderson confirmed the production of the film in October 2021.

"[Joaquin] and Ari were so simpatico, and they worked together for the whole movie. I got pretty close to the end of filming, so they had been working for a while," Henderson previously said. the way they worked together was as if they were very old friends. They could get mad and make up in seconds, it seemed. But the work was always better."

This is Aster's third feature film behind "Midsommar" and "Hereditary", with all three landing at A24. Aster and Lars Knudsen are producing the film with A24 through their Square Peg production banner. Aster reteams with his "Midsommar" and "Hereditary" cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski, whom he met when they were film students at the AFI Conservatory, on "Beau Is Afraid".

In addition to 'Beau Is Afraid', lead star Phoenix reprises his role as Arthur Fleck for 'Joker: Folie à Deux' alongside Lady Gaga's Harley Quinn. Oscar-winning Phoenix also helms Ridley Scott's "Napoleon," playing the titular French ruler. The film is set to explore Napoleon's relationship with his wife Josephine, played by Vanessa Kirby. Phoenix reunites with director Scott more than two decades after 2000's Oscar-winning Gladiator.

Ari Aster. Joaquin Phoenix. Next year, BEAU A PEUR.

—A24 (@A24)

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