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It’s not all superheroes, all the time. Studios are still willing to take a few bets on directors with compelling visions, hoping that they can offer up something distinctive and compelling at a time when multiplexes are filled with more of the same.
So give Sony Pictures credit for backing not one, but two of these riskier projects — Darren Aronofsky‘s “Caught Stealing” and Kogonada’s “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey.” The former is a crime thriller about a former baseball player (Austin Butler) who gets caught up in New York City’s underworld in the 1990s, while the latter is a romantic fantasy that follows two middle aged people who step through a magical portal into their past lives. The studio gave theater owners a first look at both projects during its CinemaCon presentation on Monday night.
“Caught Stealing” is a chance for Aronofsky, best known for making movies that are heavy on misery and suffering (see: “Mother!,” “Requiem for a Dream,” “The Whale”), to flex some very different muscles.
“I wanted to do something that was simply put, a lot of fun,” Aronofsky said, acknowledging how unlikely that sounds.
So he opted to return to a pre-9/11 time in New York when things seemed a lot less dire. “It was a great time to be young and alive,” Aronofsky said.
Not that Butler seems to be having the time of his life in the trailer the director brought. A gig cat-sitting for his mohawk-sporting friend (Matt Smith) finds him trying to stay one step ahead of Russian gangsters, Orthodox Jewish businessmen and a lot of people across the five boroughs who seem to want to beat the crap out of Butler. At least when he’s not busy hooking up with his girlfriend (Zoë Kravitz) in the hallway of his apartment building or tending bar at a local dive.
In addition to Butler, Kravitz and Smith, “Caught Stealing” co-features Regina King, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Bad Bunny.
For his part, Kogonada promised “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” would be “something that’s original, surprising, romantic and I hope moving.” It certainly looks whimsical. The footage that Sony screened finds Farrell meeting up with Robbie after her car breaks down and his car’s navigation system tells him to give her a ride. From there, they walk through a doorway in a forest, to find themselves looking at a sunset from a lighthouse and walking through the hallways of Farrell’s high school.
“However this plays out it ends in me hurting you,” Robbie warns. “What if I hurt you?” Farrell replies.
Kogonada made it clear that “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” will rely heavily on the A-list power of its lead performers, saying that Farrell and Robbie are “two stars at the peak of their craft.”
“Caught Stealing” opens on August 29, 2025, while “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” debuts on September 19, 2025.
Sony also used its presentation to highlight more franchise fare, including “Spider-Man 4,” which finds Tom Holland swinging into action again as a friendly neighborhood web-spinner, and reboots of its “Karate Kid” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer” franchises.
