“What did you get me into?!” Austin Butler yells in the new featurette, half-panicked, half already resigned to the blood-soaked mess ahead. It's not a line pulled out of thin air — it's the thesis of Darren Aronofsky's upcoming crime comedy Caught Stealing, which Sony will release in theaters nationwide on August 29, 2025.
The studio has shifted gears into its final marketing sprint, rolling out behind-the-scenes featurettes that put Butler and Aronofsky front and center, walking audiences through the madness of this 1990s New York nightmare. And yes, the cat — Bud — gets his moment too.
A Baseball Burnout in the Wrong City at the Wrong Time
Adapted from Charlie Huston's cult novel, Caught Stealing centers on Hank Thompson (Butler), a washed-up high school baseball prospect who traded the diamond for barroom drudgery and a steady supply of whiskey. All he has left is inertia — until his punk-rock neighbor Russ casually asks him to watch a cat. What follows? Gangsters, crooked cops, Samoan hitmen, sadistic brothers, and a blood-stained treasure hunt buried in the grime of Manhattan.
The inside-look videos tease the tone: grimy, frantic, but laced with absurd comedy. Aronofsky, better known for punishing psychological epics (Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan, The Whale), seems almost amused by the pulp chaos of Huston's world. He calls it “a survival story wrapped in absurdity,” which is as close to a manifesto as you'll get from him.
The Cast That Makes It Tick
The featurettes also underline what a stacked cast Sony has assembled: Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber, Vincent D'Onofrio, Griffin Dunne, Carol Kane, and even Benito A. Martínez Ocasio (Bad Bunny). Each appears briefly, painted in lurid neon or shadowy corners, like pieces of a chessboard Hank doesn't know how to play.
Butler himself leans into Hank's confusion. In his own words, “Hank's not a hero. He doesn't even know what the hell's happening. He's just trying to survive the next five minutes.” That admission, coupled with Aronofsky's penchant for grinding his characters to the edge of collapse, suggests a performance closer to Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler than Butler's polished turn as Elvis.
Crime Comedy, Aronofsky-Style
The featurettes make it clear: this isn't a slick gangster film, nor is it the prestige melodrama Aronofsky's last few projects invited. Instead, it's dirty shoes on sticky bar floors, paranoid chases through crumbling apartments, and black comedy found in moments you shouldn't be laughing.
Sony is leaning hard into the “you won't believe what happens next” energy — every promo so far has ended with Hank bloodied, bewildered, and still holding that damn cat. Whether audiences buy into the chaos or not, at least it looks like a film that knows its own strangeness.
What to Remember Before Seeing Caught Stealing
- Release Date Locked – Sony Pictures will release the film nationwide on August 29, 2025.
- Austin Butler Front and Center – As Hank Thompson, Butler shifts from Elvis glamour to full-blown street-level panic.
- Aronofsky's Genre Shift – Known for operatic psychological dramas, he's now flexing in the grimy comedy-crime lane.
- The Cat Is the Catalyst – Bud isn't a prop. He's the reason Hank's life explodes, thanks to the secret hidden in his cage.
- A Murderer's Row of Supporting Cast – Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Liev Schreiber, and Vincent D'Onofrio join the carnage.
