It’s apparently time to rejoice for those who thought the Coen Brothers had forsaken them and broken up for good. In a new Associated Press interview promoting “Drive-Away Dolls,” Ethan Coen confirms reports that he’s going to make a horror movie with his brother Joel Coen after he makes his next movie, “Honey Don’t.”
“We talked about it for a long time, but we hadn’t actually written anything,” Coen said, the AP describing it as a horror film that they wrote fresh, not from an old screenplay. “We talked about the starting point. It was in a mental drawer.”
READ MORE: Ethan & Joel Coen Reportedly Working On A “Pure Horror” Film
“It wasn’t breaking up. It was just me going, ‘Uaaagghh,’” Coen said of the brief split with his brother, vocalizing a sense of exhaustion. “It was great. It’s always great. But it’s not like we were out of contact. We see each other all the time, talk all the time.”
The plan is for Ethan Coen to direct his next film, “Honey Don’t!” which stars Chris Evans, Margaret Qualley, Aubrey Plaza, and more, and then the brothers will reunite to get that next film on track.
The film is rumored to start shooting in the fall, but that sounds premature and overly optimistic. If Coen was so exhausted, he’s going to shoot two movies in one year? Stranger things have happened, but one would assume a break is needed, plus time to edit and put “Honey Don’t!” through the post-production process.
Coen briefly stepped away from filmmaking and was said to be going to make plays instead. Asked why he took a reprieve, Coen’s “Drive-Away Dolls” co-writer, producer, and his wife Tricia Cooke said succinctly, “Too many Westerns,” alluding to “True Grit” and probably “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” a Western anthology from 2018 which was the last Coen brothers film together.
“I don’t know. Working with Tricia is new and that’s stimulating,” Coen explained..
“Ethan needed a reset,” Cooke added. “When people say ‘I was burned out,’ I always roll my eyes,” Coen winced.
Additional AP context:
The planned horror movie could harken back to the Coens’ 1984 debut, “Blood Simple.” But Coen is reluctant to ascribe any commonality to his post-reset movies than: “They’re not Westerns.”
“I don’t know. It was always fun working with Joel, doing those movies. They were a gas, man,” Coen said of their collaborations. “‘Inside Llewyn Davis,’ that was fun going to work every day. All of ’em.”
“Drive-Away Dolls” opens February 23, 2024. “Honey Don’t” may come out in 2026, and the horror in 2027 if that doesn’t exhaust him all over again. Let’s hope not.