If you ask Ari Aster’s dad, the “Hereditary” director should leave screenwriting to someone else.
During a recent appearance on the “WTF with Marc Maron” podcast, Aster said his father suggested he stick to directing only after his 2023 film “Beau Is Afraid” underperformed at the box office.
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“When ‘Beau Is Afraid’ flopped, my dad did tell me, ‘Uh, maybe you shouldn’t write the next one,’” Aster said. “He might’ve been right.”
Despite the advice, Aster wrote his follow-up feature, “Eddington,” which is currently in theaters. A24 and Aster are hoping for a win from the small-town dramedy starring Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal after “Beau” grossed $12 million worldwide against a $35 million budget.
Aster said he was “pretty sad” about the poor critical and commercial reception of “Beau,” but added that a few stray messages of support helped him deal with the disappointment.
“I was pretty sad that it was, like, so maligned,” he recalled. “There are a lot of people who reached out to tell me that they loved it…that helped, but yeah, no, it was a bummer because it was a huge, you know, it lost money, and critically, I wouldn’t say it was, like, reviled, but it was definitely, like, there was no consensus whatsoever.”
He continued, “All these things you take away after you release a film and you’re like, ‘OK, it’s out of my hands now, I can’t really avoid people’s reactions, responses.’ It’s like, you know, you kind of learn something…No matter what the response, you’re proud of for sticking with [your choice], and then certain things where you’re like, ‘Eh, I’m not sure if it was worth losing that much of the audience for that decision.’ I think I ejected a number of people from the theater. I could’ve used them.”
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