Latest news with #LukeGrimes
Forbes
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Luke Grimes Says ‘Eddington' Director Ari Aster Was On His Bucket List
Luke Grimes lays down the law in 'Eddington.' Richard Foreman/A24 "Ari Aster was on my bucket list ever since I'd seen Hereditary ," enthuses Eddington actor Luke Grimes as we discuss the neo-Western over Zoom. "Then I saw Midsommar , and I liked that even more. When I saw Beau Is Afraid , I had a panic attack. I don't know what that was. He's one of the most special filmmakers we have right now." Something he loves about the director, who also wrote and produced the satirical black comedy, is that "he's not picking a destination and getting himself there." "Ari is finding everything as organically as the movies feel, and for that reason, they stay in your head. Eddington is one of those films," he explains. "Just like with his other films, you watch it once, and then you go, 'I think I need to watch that again.'" Graves loved watching Aster work and found his process fascinating. "As far as the technical aspect of making a movie, Ari has the whole thing mapped out in his head. He has every shot, and he will storyboard everything. It's very old school," he muses. "It's like he knows what's going to be in the frame, how long each of these pieces of the film are going to be, and where he's cutting. He knows all of that beforehand. When it comes to character, allowing actors to act and even the words, sometimes it's more like, 'We're finding it as we go.' Usually, there's a script, and it serves as the blueprint that you can rely on. It was sort of the other way around, but you feel like you're in really good hands." "My actor friends were like, 'What was it like?' and all I could say was, 'Honestly, I had no clue what I was doing and I wasn't supposed to.' When you see the film, you're like, 'Wow, we got somewhere. That's a well-rounded character.'" Set during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, Eddington stars Joaquin Phoenix as Joe Cross, a small-town sheriff who is locked in a standoff with the mayor, played by Pedro Pascal. That sparks a powder keg as neighbors are pitted against each other in this New Mexico pueblo. Grimes plays Guy Tooley, one of Cross' two police officers. Eddington is exclusively in theaters now. Forbes Expect More 'Final Destination' Movies After 'Bloodlines' Success By Simon Thompson Exploring the cop was a unique experience for Grimes. "I'd never had a director allow themselves to be so unsure of a character that they wrote," he recalls. "Him going, 'Look, we don't have to figure this guy out right away. We can figure this out over the process of making this movie,' made the character a lot more interesting than just pigeon-holing him and saying, 'Well, this is a bad guy.' You can feel that with every character in the movie. There are no villains, but there are also no heroes." "Everyone is trying to figure everything out at all times, and that's how it felt making the movie, and that's how it felt approaching Guy and these aspects of his personality that are a little unsavory. We were questioning it the whole time. I remember the first meeting we had, Ari said, 'Let's not reduce him too much. In every line and every scene, why don't we try to feel like we don't know what that is or where that comes from?' It was really interesting and something I'd never done before." (Left to right) Micheal Ward, Ari Aster, Joaquin Phoenix, Luke Grimes at the 'Eddington' Los Angeles ... More Premiere held at the DGA Theater on in Los Angeles, California. Variety via Getty Images 'Eddington' Examines The Pandemic But It Doesn't Judge Although Eddington is set during the pandemic, it neither takes a side nor makes a political statement. If anything, it pokes fun at both groups. "That was important to Ari when we were making the movie," Grimes explains. "He did not step into the realm of preaching or trying to give a lot of answers. The point of the movie is to raise a lot of questions. The point of this movie wasn't to go like, 'Ha! Look at them over there. We're in the right,' and that's what I liked about it. You don't see that very much. Everybody has an opinion, and I don't think this movie necessarily has one. It's just showing you the reality of what everybody was doing, what they were using, and the manipulation from every single side to try to get what they wanted, and trying to tell everyone else that they're wrong." He continues, "A lot of the characters in this film are using the situation at hand, which is this big scary thing, this virus, and this crazy time, to manipulate people and use that fear to get what they want. Guy is the only person in the movie who's not quite intelligent enough to know how to use anything to get what he wants. I don't even think he knows what he wants. I think he wants to impress Joe. I think he wants to be good at his job, and I don't think he necessarily knows how to do that." (Left to right) Micheal Ward, Joaquin Phoenix, and Luke Grimes in a scene from 'Eddington.' Richard Foreman/A24 Shot on location in New Mexico, the state where the fictional town of Eddington is located, the production created hundreds of local jobs, many appearing as extras. The places where they filmed, which included the town of Truths and Consequences, felt very familiar to Graves. "I'm very used to small-town America. I'm very comfortable there. I live in a town of 700 people in Montana. So for me, I get the mentality," the Fifty Shades actor reveals. "The only problem arose when we were doing these scenes where there's a bunch of people picketing, and they're starting to get what the movie is, and they're starting to wonder, 'Which side are these people on?' That was funny, because you could tell that they're starting to be a little bit afraid of what this movie is preaching." "Again, I think they'll realize now that it wasn't preaching. It's a satire on a very scary time for all of us. The town was amazing. They were happy that we were there and they couldn't have been kinder and more welcoming." Forbes 'Puppet Up!' Builds A New Future Away From The Jim Henson Company Lot By Simon Thompson Grimes, also known for Yellowstone and The Magnificent Seven , is more than aware that while this is a neo-western, he's no stranger to the broader genre. He's okay with that, but it was never intentional. "It's weird. I always make this joke that the cowboy hat found me," he laughs. "When I showed up in LA wanting to be in films and television, I wasn't thinking, 'I'm going to be the guy that's going to try to do all the Western stuff.' My father was a huge Western fan, so Westerns were always in our house growing up, and I watched a lot of the classic ones as a kid. Maybe just because of where I grew up and how I grew up, I had the sensibility for it." "There's a reason why you keep getting cast as a similar type of person, and maybe it's because that's closer to who I am than a lot of other things. I found that I enjoy it as well. There's something about shooting in the mountains versus shooting on a soundstage that I find much more enjoyable. I'm not complaining about it at all. I certainly love the genre and love doing it." (Left to right) Luke Grimes and Joaquin Phoenix attend the Los Angeles premiere of A24's 'Eddington' ... More at DGA Theater Complex on in Los Angeles, California. WireImage Luke Grimes Says 'No One Works Harder Than Joaquin Phoenix' Something else Grimes loves is having the opportunity to work with Eddington 's lead, the Oscar-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix. He was impressed by how he performed on set and how he remained laser-focused on the work at hand without slipping into the cliché of "going method." "The term' method acting' has become bastardized, and people don't know what that means," he says. "It has become code for actors who are difficult and acting like actors and being like, 'I'm just going to stay in this character all day,' so that you know how hard they're working. I've actually never seen someone work harder than Joaquin." The Eddington actor concludes, "He gives everything he has got, and he'll do anything he needs to do to get himself somewhere. When you're around Joaquin, the whole set knows that the only reason he's doing anything is to make a good product and to be good in the film. It never feels contrived or like he's being difficult. If he's being difficult to anyone, it's to himself. Beyond that, he's a generous, beautiful human being, and one of the kindest people I've ever met."
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ari Aster Knew Eddington Was Going To Be Divisive, And He Explains Why That Didn't Stop Him
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Since the premiere of Ari Aster's Eddington at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, the word I've constantly heard/seen to describe it is 'divisive.' It's a dark comedy set during the summer of 2020 – a time period that has a lot of baggage for all of us – and it examines the moment in our recent history via the lens of a small town in New Mexico. It's conflict-filled subject matter that has inflamed strong opinions… and that means that it is doing what its writer/director intended it to do. When I sat down with Aster and actors Luke Grimes and Micheal Ward late last month for an interview during the Los Angeles press day for the new 2025 feature, I made note of the 'divisive' response, and I asked the filmmaker about how he factors audience reaction into his work and how he expects his movies to play with movie-goers. He explained that there are certain stages involved when he is constructing a screenplay – but the first time he digs into a story, he is writing purely what he wants to write. Said the filmmaker, Well, I try to not get caught up and worry about how something's gonna like land while I'm writing. I try to just not restrain anything. And then once it's on paper, it's kind of a matter of keeping my nerve and maybe being smart enough to know what maybe should be plucked. I don't know. But we knew it was gonna be divisive. It's about polarization; it's about division. And we tried to pull back as far as we could to have it be about the environment where kind of everybody is kind of in one way or another missing part of the picture. What makes Eddington particularly complicated material are the motivations of its characters – including a sheriff (played by Joaquin Phoenix) agitated with the state-mandated Covid restrictions and the mayor (Pedro Pascal) with big money investors in his upcoming re-election campaign who is hoping to land a deal for the construction of a server farm. Elements of their behavior are hyper-politicized and magnified during a tremendously stressful time, but they aren't specifically acting in bad faith. The movie itself is about fractures in our society, and confronting audiences with that is going to naturally get a divisive reaction. Aster continued: Everybody in the movie cares about the world. Every character cares about the world, knows that something's wrong, has a feeling that something's wrong, but they have different pictures of what that is. The ensemble of characters in the story include the sheriff's wife (Emma Stone), who finds herself falling down a conspiracy theory rabbit hole; a Black officer (Micheal Ward) who finds himself the subject of strange attention amid the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests; and a teen (Cameron Mann) who gets sucked into progressive activism to get the attention of his crush (Amèlie Hoeferle). As the Hereditary/Middsommar filmmaker explains, they all know that everything isn't functioning properly and they try to contribute toward its betterment… but nothing about modernity is black and white. Added Aster, Everybody in the movie cares about the world. Every character cares about the world, knows that something's wrong, has a feeling that something's wrong, but they have different pictures of what that is. Also starring Austin Butler, Deirdre O'Connell, and William Belleau, all of the controversy of Eddington will be arriving in theaters courtesy of A24 this Friday, July 18. Solve the daily Crossword
Daily Mail
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Yellowstone star Luke Grimes teases return of 'familiar faces' for spinoff Y: Marshals amid Kevin Costner drama
Luke Grimes hinted that fans will see a few of his Yellowstone co-stars in his upcoming spin-off Y: Marshals. Grimes, 41, played Kaycee Dutton in all five seasons of the hit Paramount Network show Yellowstone, which wrapped up its run back in December after an explosive end which saw show veteran Kevin Costner exit the show amid feud rumors. Last month, CBS gave the spin-off Y: Marshals a straight-to-series order, debuting sometime in 2026 in midseason. The show will follow Grimes' character Kaycee Dutton as he joins an, 'elite unit of U.S. Marshals, combining his skills as a cowboy and Navy SEAL to bring range justice to Montana, where he and his teammates must balance family, duty and the high psychological cost that comes with serving as the last line of defense in the region's war on violence.' Aside from Grimes, no other cast members were confirmed for the new series from Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan. However, while promoting his new A24 film Eddington with TooFab, Grimes confirmed that there will be some Yellowstone stars popping up in the show. 'You will see some familiar faces. I'm excited to do it. It's going to be year eight for me, playing the same character, which is, who would have thought that I would ever play a character for eight years?' Grimes said. He added, 'But, he's really close to my heart. He feels like a family member, and it would be weird to fully let him go anyway, so I'm glad we get to reconnect.' It seems likely that Kaycee's wife Monica Long Dutton (Kelsey Asbille) would have some sort of presence in the show, along with their son Tate (Brecken Merrill). The Yellowstone finale ended with Kaycee coming up with the plan to save the sprawling Yellowstone-Dutton ranch. He decided to sell the ranch back to the Broken Rock Indian reservation for the same price per acre that land sold for when his family obtained the land. Part of the deal carved out a small part of the ranch for Kaycee and his family to live and raise their own cattle on, while his sister Beth (Kelly Reilly) and her husband Rip (Cole Hauser) bought their own ranch nearby as well. Rip and Beth are two other possible candidates to return on Y: Marshals, given their proximity to Kaycee and Monica that was established in the Yellowstone finale. Many of the ranchers who worked out of the infamous bunkhouse on the ranch all ultimately went their separate ways, though they could return as well. He added, 'But, he's really close to my heart. He feels like a family member, and it would be weird to fully let him go anyway, so I'm glad we get to reconnect.' Y: Marshals will join the CBS Sunday night lineup sometime next spring in the 9 PM timeslot, along with 60 Minutes at 7 PM, Tracker at 8 PM and Watson at 10 PM. It's unclear when production will begin on the series, or when more casting will be announced for the show. Y: Marshals joins another Yellowstone spin-off entitled The Madison, following a wealthy New York City family who relocates to a ranch in Montana. Michelle Pfeiffer stars alongside Kurt Russell, Patrick J. Adams, Beau Garrett, Elle Chapman and Amiah Miller. Luke became a household name on the smash hit series playing Kayce Dutton, the son of Kevin Costner's rancher patriarch John Dutton. Kevin sensationally left the show before its final half-season, amid explosive reports that he clashed with its creator Taylor Sheridan. In the wake of his departure, Luke rhapsodized about how the last episodes were 'the easiest' to film because 'some of the conflict was gone,' kicking up a flurry of rumors that he had also feuded with Kevin, though he denied 'any hard feelings.' Kevin left the show after filming only the first half of season five, prompting his character John to be killed off in a murder-for-hire plot. His departure came under a cloud of rumors that he feuded with Taylor Sheridan, though he evidently ultimately left the show over scheduling conflicts with his own four-part Western movie Horizon, which he directed, starred in and co-wrote. Horizon, a decades-long passion project Kevin poured over $38 million of his own money into, debuted its first part last year to dismal box office results. Meanwhile Yellowstone aired the last half of season five in 2024, dividing fans - and shortly thereafter, Luke gave a telling interview about Kevin's exit. 'Hopefully everyone can see that it was time,' Luke said of John Dutton being killed off, in an interview with Men's Health. 'To be really honest, there was a part of Kevin being gone that meant some of the conflict was gone.' He shared: 'Obviously, it didn't make it super fun to be around... Not pointing any fingers, but it was actually the easiest season we've filmed.' Luke revealed he had not spoken to Kevin since the Oscar-winner left the show, explaining with a laugh: 'It's not a case of any hard feelings or anything; its just, he's Kevin Costner. He's a big deal.'
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Yellowstone' spinoff among new Utah film productions approved under tax incentive program
The Capitol in Salt Lake City is pictured on Thursday, April 10, 2025. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch) Four new film productions are headed for Utah and will receive a tax credit under the state's film incentive program, including a 'Yellowstone' spinoff and a new season of 'The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch.' That's according to the Utah Film Commission, which made the announcement on Friday. The four productions will generate an estimated economic impact of about $57.4 million and more than 380 jobs, with filming set to take place in Salt Lake, Summit, Wasatch and Uintah counties. The 'Yellowstone' spinoff — titled 'Y: Marshals' — is the latest addition to the popular series that drew millions of viewers and was partly filmed in Utah. But after filming three seasons in the Beehive State, the production packed up and relocated to Montana, where it was offered a better tax break. That loss contributed to lawmakers expanding the state's film incentive for rural productions. 'Y: Marshals' will star Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton, continuing the arc of his 'Yellowstone' character as a member of the U.S. Marshalls. Production will begin in Summit County this fall, and the show has a $52 million budget. 'Utah is such a draw for film and television because of its diverse landscapes, fantastic crews, and amazing, knowledgeable film office,' said Adam Morra, vice president of planning and finance for Paramount Global, in a statement. 'There is no doubt, though, the film incentive is a vital and necessary part of the package.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The seventh season of 'The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch' will also receive a tax credit under the state's rural film incentive program. Focused on the notorious Skinwalker Ranch in Uintah County, the History Channel show follows researchers who explore the ranch's reported paranormal activity. It has a $3.2 million budget. Filmed in Wasatch and Summit counties with a $1.8 million budget, 'Keep Coming Back' is the third production to receive incentives under the state's rural film program. It's an independent film from director and producer Mark Rosman, who said the tax incentives, experienced film crews and proximity to Los Angeles made Utah a draw. 'When it came to picking a state to shoot the film, it was natural to look at Utah,' Rosman said in a statement. And the new competition show 'Freshman Inventors' will receive a rebate under the Utah Community Film Incentive Program. With plans to film in Salt Lake County with a $300,000 budget, the Netflix show highlights Gen Z inventors. The Utah Motion Picture Incentive Program currently offers a refundable tax credit up to 25% for funds spent in the state, with different sums of money set aside for productions that meet certain criteria. The rural film incentive — which 'Y: Marshals,' 'The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch' and 'Keep Coming Back' qualified for — sets aside $12 million per year for projects that spend at least 75% of production days in a rural county. The community film incentive program is a 20% post-performance cash rebate for projects that originate in Utah. It's aimed at helping smaller productions with budgets between $100,000 to $500,000, and is meant to promote up-and-coming local filmmakers, according to Utah Film Studios. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Release Windows For Yellowstone's Spinoffs About Kayce, Rip And Beth Have Been Revealed, And Now I Have Two Important Questions
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Yellowstone may be over, but the Dutton family tree lives on thanks to Kayce, Beth and Rip. Between the end of the 2025 TV schedule and the start of 2026's programming, we'll see these characters played by Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser return to our screens in two different upcoming Yellowstone shows. And knowing that they'll air pretty close together leaves me with two important questions. We knew that both Dutton Ranch, which is the Rip and Beth spinoff, and Y: Marshals, Kayce's show, were in the works for a while now. However, now we have confirmed release windows. During Paramount Global's Q1 2025 earnings call (via ScreenRant), it was revealed that Rip and Beth's spinoff would premiere on the Paramount Network (and stream the next day for those with a Paramount+ subscription) in November of this year. Meanwhile, CBS's 2025-2026 lineup featured Kayce's series, and specified that it will premiere mid-season as part of the Spring '26 programming. That means, as Dutton Ranch is ending, we'll be gearing up for the premiere of Y: Marshals, which gives me questions about when these projects will take place and how much crossover there could be. Odds are, Dutton Ranch will air its finale in December or maybe January, and if I had to guess Y: Marshals will premiere sometime in February (or maybe late January or early March). That means there will be very little time between the two shows in terms of when they air. That makes me wonder how both projects will fit into the Yellowstone timeline. Will they take place simultaneously? Will Marshals happen right after Dutton Ranch? Could they take place years apart? The options are endless, and I really can't predict what they might do, which ups my curiosity a lot. However, it does not change my mind about the fact that Luke Grimes, Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly should crossover between the two dramas. Paramount Plus: from $7.99 a month/$79.99 a yearTo keep up with everything Yellowstone, including the upcoming shows, make sure you have Paramount+. Plans start at $7.99, and you can upgrade to Premium for Showtime and no ads by paying $12.99 per month. View Deal When Yellowstone ended, Kayce and Beth went their separate ways. Kayce stayed at East Camp, very close to where the Dutton Ranch once stood. Beth and Rip moved to Dillon, Montana, to live on a new ranch. According to Google Maps, Paradise Valley, where Kayce's home is, and Dillon are a little over two hours apart if you're driving, so I think it's logical to believe the family would still see each other. Plus, Kayce and Beth left things on good terms after they both worked to facilitate the deal to give the ranch to the Broken Rock people. To me, it wouldn't make much sense if they never saw each other. So, whether these two shows take place around the same time or years apart, I want to see Kayce on Dutton Ranch, and I'd love to see Beth and Rip on Y: Marshals. While these Westerns will air on two different networks, they are all under the Paramount umbrella and will be streamable on Paramount+. So, let's cross these series over, keep the Dutton family together, and make it so all this happens around the same time, so we can see exactly how the Yellowstone story continues.
