Ethan Coen’s New Film ‘Drive-Away Dolls’ Adds Pedro Pascal and Matt Damon
Brian Welk
Pedro Pascal and Matt Damon are confirmed to be joining the cast of Ethan Coen’s next film, his first narrative project as a solo director without his brother Joel Coen. Distributor Focus Features has also unveiled the film’s title, “Drive-Away Dolls,” and set a September 22, 2023 theatrical release date.
“Drive-Away Dolls” stars the previously reported Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan in what’s described as a “comedy caper” film. The film follows Jamie, an uninhibited free spirit bemoaning yet another breakup with a girlfriend, and her demure friend Marian who desperately needs to loosen up. In search of a fresh start, the two embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee, but things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals along the way.
Beanie Feldstein, Pascal, Colman Domingo, Bill Camp, and Damon all co-star in the feature.
Coen directed “Drive-Away Dolls” from a script he co-wrote with his wife Tricia Cooke. Coen and Cooke also produced the film alongside Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner. The project is a co-production of both Focus Features and Working Title. Coen previously worked with Cooke on his documentary from last year “Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind.”
Focus Features will distribute “Drive-Away Dolls” in the U.S., with Universal Pictures International handling international distribution.
Coen was the subject of much speculation in the indie film world when his brother went solo on “The Tragedy of Macbeth” and has yet to announce any other project working alongside his brother (the two haven’t worked together since 2018’s “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”). But Coen suggested back at Cannes last year that there was no drama between him and Joel, and that after 30 years in the industry, he had begun to feel the exhaustion of being a filmmaker.
“Nothing happened, certainly nothing dramatic,” Coen said. “You start out when you’re a kid and you want to make a movie. Everything’s enthusiasm and gung-ho, let’s go make a movie. And the first movie is just loads of fun. And then the second movie is loads of fun, almost as much fun as the first. And after 30 years, not that it’s no fun, but it’s more of a job than it had been.”
Pascal has had an enormous year thanks to HBO’s “The Last of Us,” which will return for a second season, and with the return of “The Mandalorian” on Disney+. Damon currently stars in and co-wrote Amazon’s “Air” about Nike’s courting of Michael Jordan to create the Air Jordan shoe line. He’ll also next appear in Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.”
