‘He’s incapable of compromising or doing anything easy’: Emma Stone and Joaquin Phoenix join Ari Aster at ‘Eddington’ premiere

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Noah Sacco, production and acquisitions executive at A24, delivered a few opening remarks ahead of the screening of Eddington, the latest film from writer-director Ari Aster. The event took place Thursday at the Directors Guild of America’s Theater One on Sunset Boulevard.

In his introduction, Sacco reflected on Aster’s history of bold choices, offering a glimpse of what audiences can expect from Eddington. His comments served as both a tribute to Aster’s unique vision and a subtle warning: prepare for something daring and unexpected.

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“Whether it’s decapitating the protagonist [Hereditary in 2020] halfway through a movie or deeply upsetting pagan sex rituals [Midsommar in 2019] or giant penis monsters [Beau Is Afraid in 2023], it’s just always exciting and inspiring to watch someone challenge themselves as much as [Ari] does,” enthused Sacco, as he communicated his full confidence in the filmmaker’s vision and talent.

Eddington is a black comedy-drama feature starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Austin Butler, and Emma Stone. Set in fictional Eddington, N.M., in 2020 during COVID-19 and features a standoff between Joe Cross, a small-town sheriff (played by Phoenix), and Ted Garcia, Eddington’s mayor (played by Pascal).

“We’ve known Ari for a long time,” Sacco recalled. “We met Ari 10 years ago in a very random, general meeting, and, here I am, 10 years later, introducing our fourth film together with Ari. Working with Ari has been one of the highlights of our 13-plus years as a company, and it’s not just because we’re in awe of his talents as a filmmaker, which we are. It’s that every single time we work together, whether it’s his first film or this film, he’s incapable of compromising or doing anything easy.

“From the bottom of our hearts,” Sacco continued, “we can see that it comes from a genuine love of movies and almost this instance on paying homage to the ‘movie gods’ that if he’s going to have the opportunity to make a movie again, he has to try pushing something forward. He has to try something new.”

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Aster spoke briefly, prior to the screening. “Well, nothing’s worse than somebody talking before a movie,” the writer-director deadpanned, which elicited laughs from the approximately 400 attendees. “Thanks for being here.”

Next, Aster introduced cast members Stone, William Belleau (Officer Jiminez Butterfly), Cameron Mann (Brian), Matt Gomez Hidaka (Eric Garcia), Clifton Collins, Jr. (Lodge), Deirdre O'Connell (Dawn), Michael Ward (Michael), Luke Grimes (Guy), and Phoenix. “It’s such a great cast to work with,” Aster added. “All these people are wonderful. I love them and I hope you like the movie. Thank you for being here.”

Following the screening, invited guests either drove or walked less than half a mile to Horses on Sunset Blvd. for a reception to a “Tex-Mex” theme for the gala and Horses executive chef Brittany Ha served a menu that included crispy polenta with honey, braised pork tostadas and mini black bean flautas with specialty drinks such as ‘First Amendment Auditor,’ ‘solidgoldmagickarp,’ and ‘See Ya Garcia!’

Eddington had a world premiere at the main competition at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival in May. The movie will be released in theaters on July 18.

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