UPDATED: “Caught Steeling” is set to start production this fall. There’s also an expanded plot synopsis that’s been gathered up. It sounds like a grungy Safdie movie:
The plot is set in the concrete jungle of Manhattan’s Lower East Side, where former baseball player Henry “Hank” Thompson finds himself bartending and caring for a troublesome cat named Bud. When his neighbor abruptly leaves town and entrusts Hank with Bud, he unwittingly becomes entangled in a dangerous game. Attacked by two Russians, Hank realizes he’s caught in the crosshairs of a mysterious agenda. Suddenly, he’s thrust into a frantic race against time, navigating rooftops, evading the NYPD, and confronting a tangled web of criminals—all to unravel the enigma surrounding Bud and his newfound perilous existence. All because, once upon a time, all Hank ever aimed for was to make it to third base, without any trouble.
EARLIER 03.27.24: Austin Butler will star in Darren Aronofsky’s next film, “Caught Steeling.”
The film follows a burned-out former baseball player who is plunged into a wild fight for survival in the downtown criminal underworld of ‘90s NYC. Sounds like something the Safdies would concoct.
Based on the book by Charlie Huston, who will also be writing the script, Sony is producing the film, being dubbed a “thriller”. This is set to be the next thing Aronofsky shoots as his recently announced Elon Musk biopic is still in the very early stages of development.
Aronofsky’s last film, “The Whale,” was released in 2022 to mostly fine reviews, but it did win Brendan Fraser the Oscar for Best Actor and audiences really liked the film — it grossed $54 million worldwide on a skimp $3 million budget.
He also recently premiered the interactive “Postcards From Earth,” which he shot in every continent of the world, and premiered it at the MSG Sphere, the uniquely constructed sphere-shaped venue that opens this fall in Las Vegas.
Aronofsky is the definition of a hit and miss director. With every film, and he’s only directed eight in the last 25 years, Aronofsky tries to make something different, every single time. He always swings for the fences. It’s always interesting to see what he does next.
I wasn’t big on “The Whale,” just as I didn’t care for “Noah,” “mother!” and “The Fountain”. However, he’ll always be a worthy filmmaker in my books for having directed three great films — “The Wrestler,” “Black Swan” and “Requiem For A Dream.”
Jeff Sneider had first reported on Butler’s casting.