Movies
Ari Aster Talks Extended Cut of ‘Midsommar’ and His Forthcoming “Zonky Nightmare Comedy”
Late last week, Midsommar director Ari Aster took to reddit to conduct an AMA where he revealed a lengthy battle with the MPAA and the promise of an extended cut that could top three hours in length.
Movieweb caught up with the filmmaker who clarified what we can expect from the longer edit, which may or may not have its own festival premiere.
“The first cut of the movie was about 3 hours and 40 minutes. I am working on an extended cut that would be about three hours, maybe a little bit less,” said Aster.
When asked to elaborate on what we can expect to see in that larger cut, Aster didn’t go into full details but did promise, “A more nuanced picture of Harga, more rituals and more nuance for the relationship between Dani (Florence Pugh) and Christian (Jack Reynor), and more by way of the thesis competition between Josh (William Jackson Harper) and Christian.”
After a six-week-long battle with the MPAA for an R-rating, I’m wondering what “more rituals” means? We’ll find out as soon as Midsommar is released on home video this fall (date TBD).
Another piece of info that came out of the reddit AMA was news that Aster was planning a “zonky nightmare comedy.” While he wouldn’t go into further detail, he did add that, “It’s an absurdist, evil comedy.
“I’ve also referred to it as my anxiety comedy.”
Aster told reddit that a horror movie would likely not be his next project: “It might take me a few movies before I wind back around to it, but I love horror and I’m sure I’ll be back.”
Movies
‘Ebenezer’ Official Trailer – Ti West Turns Johnny Depp into ‘A Christmas Carol’ Icon Scrooge
Ti West (X, Pearl, MaXXXine) is back with the upcoming Ebenezer starring Johnny Depp, a fresh new take on the classic tale of A Christmas Carol from Charles Dickens.
Johnny Depp will play Ebenezer Scrooge in Ti West’s Ebenezer, and Paramount is bringing the film to theaters on November 13, 2026. Watch the official trailer down below.
The tagline? “The name you know. The story you don’t.”
Andrea Riseborough (Possessor), Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings), Tramell Tillman (“Severance”), Rupert Grint (Harry Potter franchise), Daisy Ridley (Star Wars franchise), Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games franchise), Charlie Murphy (“Peaky Blinders”), Arthur Conti (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice), and Ellie Bamber (“Willow”) also star.
Deadline had detailed in a recent report, “This version, a thrilling ghost story set in Dickens’ London, follows one man’s supernatural journey to face his past, present and future and fight for a second chance. Stephen Deuters and Jason Forman to executive produce.”
Nathaniel Halpern wrote the adaptation for Ti West to direct.
Written by Charles Dickens, the classic tale of A Christmas Carol has been adapted for the screen countless times over the years, with notable film adaptations including Scrooge (1951) starring Alastair Sim, Scrooge (1970) starring Albert Finney, A Christmas Carol (1984) starring George C. Scott, Scrooged (1988) starring Bill Murray, The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) starring Michael Caine, and A Christmas Carol (2009) starring Jim Carrey.
A Christmas Carol is classically a period piece ghost story. As Luiz H.C. wrote here on Bloody Disgusting, “Isn’t it weird how the single most influential piece of Christmas-related media is technically a horror story? One can even make the argument that Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol paved the way for the rise of Victorian Spiritualism during the following decade.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.