Want to See the New A24?

This Weekend’s Releases

Anticipated films that are releasing this weekend.

American Fiction

Intelligent, funny and moving; American Fiction is a movie about artists making do with societal constraints when producing art.

Thelonious “Monk” Ellison’s writing career has stalled because his work isn’t deemed “Black enough.” Monk, a writer and English professor, writes a satirical novel under a pseudonym, aiming to expose the publishing world’s hypocrisies. The book’s immediate success forces him to get deeper enmeshed in his assumed identity and challenges his closely-held worldviews.

The Zone of Interest

Already being hailed as one of the most powerful movies of the year, director Jonathan Glazer’s (Under the Skin, Birth) Holocaust film finally hits theaters.

The commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig, strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp.

Trailer Watch

Civil War

Upcoming film from writer and director Alex Garland (Ex Machina, 28 Days Later, Annihilation) depicting a scary vision of Americas. Couldn’t help but notice they excluded MEN from Garland’s list of movies; that is a wild one.

Out of Darkness

We definitely do not see enough movies in the “historical horror genre”. This one takes place 45,000 years ago and comes out February 9th.

Want to see the new A24 movie?

Generally audiences are brought to the theaters to see their favorite actors, directors or characters on the big screen. No movie studio, since the early days of Disney, has cultivated a brand that attracts audiences solely based on the studio's reputation like A24. But unlike Disney, it's challenging to identify many similarities across A24's filmography; the only shared trait between Everything Everywhere All At Once and Hereditary is how great they are. So, where did A24 come from, and what gives their films such a unique identity?

A24 was founded in 2012 by a trio of film executives: David Fenkel, Daniel Katz, and John Hodges, who shared a passion for art films. The group was unimpressed with the lack of originality in films being produced and recognized a gap in the film industry during the early 2010s. "No one had a voice. I felt like there was a huge opportunity to create something where talented people could be talented," stated Daniel Katz. While driving on the Italian “A24” motorway, he finally decided to act and began building the company with the goal of injecting renewed energy into filmmaking.

In its early stages, A24 operated exclusively as a distributor, prioritizing unconventional and distinctive narratives often overlooked by larger, risk-averse film studios. Despite initial setbacks in acquiring distribution rights to films they went after like "Frances Ha" and "The Place Beyond the Pines," A24 successfully managed to secure the offbeat crime film "Spring Breakers" in 2012. To demonstrate to the director their deep understanding of his vision, the A24 team crafted a personalized DIY gift basket, featuring glass gun bongs and munchies enclosed in a cardboard box sealed with duct tape. The concept immediately showed signs of promise, regardless of if the film was good or not, everyone became aware of James Franco in dreadlocks. Since then, the company has steadily grown to produce and distribute its own films, becoming the dominating player in the independent film space.

A24’s financial strategy has not changed since its inception in 2012, and it continues to deliver win-wins for the company and the audience. Operating with considerably smaller budgets, averaging between $15-$20 million, the company is able to undertake more experimental projects. Unlike conventional studios that require the majority of their films to turn a profit, A24 only needs two or three commercial hits annually. For instance, a box office success like "Everything Everywhere All At Once" ($140.2 million) could fund over half of their total annual budget. This strategy enables A24 to constantly take significant risks on very unique stories and allow their films to be found by niche audiences. How many other studios would green light a horror movie about a man being turned into a Walrus? Since the experience of seeing something they have never seen before is so uncommon for today's viewers, these films practically market themselves through word of mouth.

However, originality is not the only ingredient to A24’s success. The company focuses on finding artists who are as passionate about creating great films as they are. They constantly scout film festivals to discover fresh new voices to give their platform to. As a result, they have been instrumental in launching the careers of some of the best new filmmakers like Ari Aster (Hereditary, Midsommar), Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird, Barbie), and the Safdie Brothers (Uncut Gems, Good Time). By hand-picking new talent who are anxious to bring their vision to life, A24 is able to guarantees a certain standard for their films. This is why every shot in an A24 movie is visually stunning; the cinematography, production design, locations, and color grading are all of the highest caliber.

As A24 built its reputation of being "hands-off" with filmmakers, many high-profile actors and directors have chosen to work with the studio. This has resulted in some surprising but welcomed roles from actors, such as Adam Sandler portraying a jeweller with a gambling addiction (Uncut Gems), Nicolas Cage playing a mundane college professor (Dream Scenario), and Willem Dafoe as a psychopathic lighthouse keeper (The Lighthouse). This has allowed actors to step out of their standard roles and let audiences see them in a different light.

Many esteemed directors have also turned to A24 to create their less mainstream passion projects they could never convince other studios to finance. The list includes Denis Villeneuve (Dune, Blade Runner 2049), who crafted the remarkable experimental film Enemy, and Darren Aronofsky (The Black Swan, The Wrestler), who directed The Whale. A24 not only provides full creative freedom, but their approach to independent, low-budget filmmaking also reconnects directors and actors with their creative roots.

Coming off A24’s biggest year yet, with 18 Oscar nominations and a Best Picture win, the company plans to maintain its momentum. Their upcoming film, Civil War, is the studio's largest budget to date at $75 million, and they recently signed a deal with Warner Brothers to bring all past and future films to MAX. It was also recently announced that Benny Safdie is making a new film with the studio starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, where he promises not to just play himself again.

The popularity of A24 has been a huge win for audiences who needed a reason to be excited about cinema again. The evident success of A24’s films has proven the obvious - audiences want to see good movies. This has led to larger studios taking on riskier projects, such as Disney, which has released The Banshee of Inisherin and Poor Things through Searchlight Pictures. A24 has also paved the way for other independent studios following a similar formula, like NEON, founded in 2017, which has followed suit with the quality of their films with Parasite and Portrait of a Lady on Fire.

Spotlight Film: Sound of Metal

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