The Coen Brothersare reuniting for a “very bloody"horrorfilm. The upcoming project will mark the prolific filmmaking duo’s first venture into the genre.EthanandJoel Coenlast collaborated on 2018’s Western anthologyThe Ballad of Buster Scruggs, focusing on individual projects since. One of those features is Ethan’s upcoming comedy caperDrive-Away Dolls. During a Q&A event forDrive-Away Dollsin Tromsø, Norway, Ethan revealed that he and Joel had co-written a new feature that the two would also direct (viaCinema Blend).
“It’s a pure horror film, and it gets very bloody,” Ethan said. “If you like ‘Blood Simple,’ I think you’ll enjoy it.”
Blood Simplewas the Coen brothers' first project: the two served as writers, directors, editors, and producers for the neo-noir film. The film was critically lauded, and three years later, the brothers released another critical hit,Raising Arizona.Their other notable creditsincludeMiller’s Crossing, Barton Fink, The Big Lebowski,O Brother, Where Art Thou?,A Serious Man,True Grit,andInside Llewyn Davis.They have won four Academy Awards for their work onFargoandNo Country for Old Men.
While we don’t know much about the brothers' upcoming feature,Drive-Away Dollsco-writer (and Ethan’s wife), Tricia Cooke said the film will be “horribly funny.”
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Drive-Away Dolls,set for release on February 23,stars Maragaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan as friend whose road trip goes awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals. The film also stars Beanie Feldstein, Colman Domingo, Pedro Pascal, Bill Camp, and Matt Damon. On his end, Joel worked on the 2021 adaptation of Shakespeare’sThe Tragedy of Macbeth. The critically acclaimed historical thriller stars Denzel Washington as the titular character and Frances McDormand as Lady Macbeth.
Cooke is also a long-time collaborator of Ethan and Joel’s. She has served as an editor on several of their joint projects, includingThe Hudsucker Proxy, Fargo, andThe Big Lebowski.She worked alongside her husband for his first film without Joel (and his first documentary), 2022’sJerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind.Ahead of that film’s Cannes Film Festival debut, Ethan spoke withThe Independentabout hitting a filmmaking slump. He told the publication:
“You start out when you’re a kid and you want to make a movie. Everything’s enthusiasm and gung-ho, let’s go make a movie. And the first movie is just loads of fun. And then the second movie is loads of fun, almost as much fun as the first. And after 30 years, not that it’s no fun, but it’s more of a job than it had been. Joel kind of felt the same way but not to the extent that I did. It’s an inevitable by-product of aging. And the last two movies we made, me and Joel together, were really difficult in terms of production. I mean, really difficult. So if you don’t have to do it, you go at a certain point: ‘Why am I doing this?'”
Lucky for fans of the Coen brothers, there’s still some gas left in the tank.
