Film news: What you need to know about Zoe Kravitz and Austin Butler’s new film ‘Caught Stealing’
2025 has already served up some truly fantastic movies, with films such as Sinners, Warfare and Mickey 17 setting the standard so far.
Wanting to get in on the action, director Darren Aronofsky is revealed to be working alongside Austin Butler and Zoe Kravitz in his latest project, Caught Stealing.
Film News Blitz’s Joe Matthews is here to serve up all the nitty-gritty details pertaining to the highly anticipated collaborative project.
The story behind it all
Caught Stealing tells the story of a burned-out former baseball player called Hank Thompson, who is dragged into the fight with the criminal underworld of 90’s New York.
Thompson, played by Austin Butler (Dune: Part Two), becomes unknowingly embroiled in local gang conflict when he agrees to cat-sit for his neighbor Russ portrayed by Matt Smith (House of the Dragon).
This opens him up to being targeted by several gangs including Russian, Jewish and Puerto Rican criminals.
Zoe Kravitz (Blink Twice) takes on the role of Yvonne, Hank’s love interest throughout, acting as a grounding presence during the chaotic twists and turns of 90’s New York’s East Village.
The feature will be produced through the collaborative efforts of Columbia Pictures and Protozoa Pictures.
A noteworthy, star-studded supporting cast
Casting directors Benjamin Bermudez and Todd Feldman, whose notable experience goes only as far as Bermudez’s work casting for Glass Onion, have certainly managed to put together quite the roll call.
Alongside the firepower of Butler, Kravitz and Smith, the likes of the iconic Hollywood figure Regina King and the quiet intensity of Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan) have boosted the all-star quality of the cast with a hint of experience to its youthful stardom.
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Warfare’s D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Puerto Rican singer-songwriter sensation Bad Bunny and Vincent D’Onofrio (Daredevil: Born Again) have also been added to increase the already outrageous character depth.
It is a cast clearly accustomed to the rigour and dedication of a modern crime film.
Other names include Griffin Dunne, whose notable roles include The French Dispatch and the Dallas Buyers Club, as well as Gregg Bello and Shaun O’Hagan, who have both worked with Aronofsky several times on Black Swan, Requiem for a Dream and Mother!
The Aronofsky effect
Darren Aronofsky first rose into the spotlight with his 1998 indie film called Pi, which centred around a maths genius attempting to predict the future.
A film which earned him Best Director recognition at Sundance.
But it was two years later in the year 2000 when he truly turned heads with Requiem for a Dream.
The film’s chaotic and experimental style shocked audiences, as it followed a group of drug addicts living on Coney Island, later becoming somewhat of a cult classic.
The feature truly established the groundbreaking director’s visionary style.
A common feature of an Aronofsky film is that it will likely garner a wide range of award nominations.
In total, his films have received 11 nominations at the Academy Awards, winning three times.
Natalie Portman took home the first winning accolade for Black Swan, claiming the Best Actress award at the 2011 Academy Awards.
Triumphing over the likes of Nicole Kidman for Rabbit Hole, Annette Bening for The Kids Are All Right, Jennifer Lawrence for Winter’s Bone, and Michelle Williams for Blue Valentine.
Which takes some doing considering they are all legends in their own right.
It then took him another 12 years to reach critical acclaim for his boundary-breaking feature, The Whale.
Starring a career reinventing performance from Brendan Fraser who won Best Actor.
The tragic, poignant drama also took home Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
Incidentally, Butler’s Oscar notoriety comes from the 2022 biopic Elvis, for which he also received a Best Actor nomination, only to be edged by Fraser that year.
Perhaps it was a sign of things to come, with Aronofsky and Butler teaming up for Caught Stealing just a few years later.
When will it rock the big screen?
With Caught Stealing officially in its post-production stage, we can expect to see the 90’s crime thriller hit cinemas on August 29 of this year.
Get ready for Butler and co. to take centre stage yet again later this year.
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