‘Beau Is Afraid’: Ari Aster’s New Nightmare Comedy With Joaquin Phoenix Changes Its ‘Disappointment Blvd’ Title & Drops Teaser Poster

It’s very high on our list of the Most Anticipated Films of 2023, and it was actually on our 2022 list too. Everyone is very psyched for the return of horror indie filmmaker Ari Aster, known for “Hereditary” and “Midsommar.” His next film, “Disappointment Blvd,” is something more of a gear shift, not traditional horror, but something dark, twisted, comedic, and ambitious: comedy horror, apparently. Only it’s not called that anymore. The film has changed its title to “Beau Is Afraid,” and a new teaser poster has been revealed, hinting at a TBD 2023 release.

“Beau Is Afraid” stars Joaquin Phoenix and is a decades-spanning portrait of one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time. The film has a 2023 release date, according to its distributor, A24, but that’s all we’re getting right now.

READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2023

“Beau is Afraid” circles back to the film’s origins, sort of. When first reported or rumored, the film did have the title of “Beau is Afraid,” which is similar to one of the titles of Aster’s shorts he made before his feature-length debut, “Hereditary” (see below). It is unclear if they are connected because it seems they have different plots on the surface, but the “Beau Is Afraid” script was circulating online for a few years, and people tend to talk about it as a legendary screenplay.

Many film pundits expected the film at Venice Film Festival last year. But the rumor around that business —it’s purported to be very long and around 3 hours or more—was it just wasn’t ready and needed more time to get in shape. Maybe it’ll premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May?

While we don’t know how long it is yet, when Aster first began talking about the film, he described it as a four-hour-long “nightmare comedy” (and man, if it takes the piss out of people like Elon Musk, we’ll be totally fine with the length).

“Beau Is Afraid” co-stars Nathan Lane, Patti LuPone, Amy Ryan, Kylie Rogers, Parker Posey, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Hayley Squires, Michael Gandolfini, Zoe Lister-Jones, and Richard Kind.

“Beau Is Afraid” has no release date, but it is officially coming in 2023. Check out the teaser poster below and the trailer for “Beau,” a short film directed by Aster in 2011.