I briefly mentioned last week that Darren Aronofsky’s “Caught Stealing” was not being seen as an awards player by Sony, but rather a gritty Safdie-like crime thriller with “decent” commercial prospects.. No surprise then that Sony has now given the film an August 29, 2025 release date.
Now, that date still makes it a possibility for a Cannes premiere. Aronofsky has a big retrospective happening at the Paris cinematheque in April, which will include in-person Q&As and a Masterclass. Cannes is set to take place only a few weeks after that.
With that said, don’t be surprised if “Caught Stealing” takes that Venice opener slot on 08.27.25. Aronofsky has premiered four of his last films on the Lido; Or, another possibility, the film might just not go to any festivals.
Based on the book by Charlie Huston, who also wrote the screenplay, “Caught Stealing” follows a burned-out former baseball player (Austin Butler) who is plunged into a wild fight for survival in the downtown criminal underworld of ‘90s NYC.
Butler is joined by a supporting cast that includes Matt Smith, Zoë Kravitz, Regina King, Vincent D’Onofrio, Liev Schreiber, Bad Bunny and Griffin Dunne. I don’t think Dunne’s casting is a coincidence; he was the lead in Martin Scorsese’s “After Hours” which this film, apparently, might heavily be inspired by.
Aronofsky’s last film, “The Whale,” was released in 2022 to mostly fine reviews, and it did win Brendan Fraser the Oscar for Best Actor. Audiences really liked “The Whale” — it grossed $54M worldwide on a skimp $3 million budget.
I wasn’t big on “The Whale,” just as I didn’t care for “Noah,” “mother!” and “The Fountain”. However, Aronofsky is one of the most interesting U.S. filmmakers working today, and he’s directed GREAT films — “The Wrestler,” “Black Swan” and “Requiem For A Dream.”