News Jenna Ortega and Paul Rudd Fight Killer Unicorns in New Bats**t A24 TrailerDeath of a Unicorn looks like the kind of genre comedy nonsense weve been craving right about now.By David Crow | December 18, 2024 | | Photo: A24Mythical creatures. Movie stars. And the studio that recently gave the world The Brutalist and Sing Sing. We probably were always going to be at least a little intrigued by Death of a Unicorn, the upcoming dark comedy starring Jenna Ortega and Paul Rudd thats oh, so A24 that it even intentionally misspelled unicorn by way of old-timey early modern English when it was first announced. (Its original title was Death of a Unicorne, which might be fitting when one knows the writer-director Alex Scharfman previously worked on Robert Eggers The Witch.)Still, when this mornings gloriously batshit trailer came around, it revealed that in addition to having just natural buckets of alternative cool kids cred, Death of a Unicorn also pivots on more than the cruel slaughter of these majestic beasts from ye olden times it is also a horror-ish movie where a unicorns horn holds the secrets to curing cancer just good luck getting it when these little ponies are revealed to be absolute man-eaters!Indeed, with a bemusing use of the classic Beach Boys banger, Good Vibrations, Death of a Unicorn featuresWednesdays Ortega opposite Americas new favorite dad, Rudd, as the pair are driving into the woods for a fateful work trip that goes horribly awry after they make roadkill of a unicorn. But faster than you can say Tommy Boy, the magic animal proves to be only mostly dead. And by the time they get to the films other cast of characters, including Ta Leoni, Richard E. Grant, and Will Poulterthe latter of whom looks to be having absolutely the time of his life mugging for the camerathe creature is revealed to be on the rebound.After untold bloody hijinks ensue, our quintet of characters have the unwise idea to harness the unicorns enchanted properties to cure all sickness and disease but in reality they might only be inviting themselves to learn what the legendary steeds digestive tract looks like.Notably, Death of a Unicorn is primarily coming out right now because of last years writers and actors strikes. While many studios and streamers chose to let negotiations drag on for months without making a deal with the creatives, A24 cut a separate one which allowed this movie to go into production with SAG members like Ortega and Rudd. And it has all the hallmarks of a skewed, sideways laugher befitting an indie tastemakers who made their name, in part, by producing and/or distributing movies like Spring Breakers and Everything Everywhere All at Once.Will Death of a Unicorn add itself to that illustrious legacy? Well find out soon enough, with the movie scheduled to release sometime next spring. Were just happy though to have another gonzo-minded movie about the death of unicorns after Ridley Scott made a whole cult classic about it in Legendalthough even that movie didnt have a tagline as punchy as poke around and find out.