Midsommar director Ari Aster is teaming with Joaquin Phoenix for his next movie. Disappointment Blvd will star Phoenix, with Aster behind the camera. Rumors had previously suggested that Phoenix might be looking to join Aster's upcoming project but that has now been firmed up. This is poised to be one of Phoenix's first movies since winning an Oscar for his performance in 2019's DC Comics adaptation Joker. That alone makes it a high-profile project right out of the gate.

According to a new report, A24 has signed on to finance and produce Disappointment Blvd. Once Joaquin Phoenix signed on the package was shopped around to potential buyers. It is said that there was a great deal of interest but A24 came out on top. Ari Aster previously worked with the studio on his previous two features, Hereditary and Midsommar. Both were critical successes, with Hereditary doing particularly well commercially, taking in $80 million against a $10 million budget. Aster wrote the screenplay in addition to his duties as director. Lars Knudsen is on board to produce.

Plot details are largely being kept under wraps but it is described as "an intimate, decades-spanning portrait of one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time." Ari Aster has previously discussed one of the movies he was working on as a "zonkey nightmare comedy." When we spoke to him in 2019, Aster said "It's an absurdist, evil comedy. I've also referred to it as my anxiety comedy." Whether or not this is the same project remains unclear. Aster had also teased that his next movie, presumably this mysterious nightmare comedy, would be four-hours long. Again, it has yet to be revealed if Disappointment Blvd is the same project that had been teased previously.

Joaquin Phoenix is known for his roles in movies such as Gladiator, Walk the Line and Her. Phoenix has long been viewed as one of the best actors working today. Despite several close calls, he had not taken home an Oscar until last year when he won for Joker. Phoenix played the lead role in the R-rated comic book flick, which was directed by Todd Phillips. Though polarizing, the movie earned more than $1 billion worldwide, becoming a massive hit. Warner Bros. is expected to pursue a sequel or follow-up of some kind, even though it was initially conceived as a one-off. Phoenix is, additionally, set to reunite with director Ridley Scott for Kitbag, in which, he will play Napoleon Bonaparte.

As for Ari Aster, he has become a director to watch after both Hereditary and Midsommar were met with widespread critical acclaim. Midsommar, however, did not achieve the level of commercial success as Hereditary, taking in just shy of $50 million globally. There is no word yet on how soon production will begin on Disappointment Blvd, nor has a release date been set by the studio. We'll be sure to keep you posted as any further details are made available. This news comes to us via Deadline,