What a world we live in that a film starring a man recently convicted of assault and harassment is getting a release date before an animated project that was by all accounts really good and fun like Coyote Vs. Acme. Unlike the latter movie, Jonathan Majors' Magazine Dreams will actually see the light of day, thanks to a new distribution deal with Tom Ortenberg's Briarcliff Entertainment.
Magazine Dreams was initially meant to be released by Searchlight, but the studio dropped it almost immediately after Majors was found guilty of two misdemeanor charges in a highly publicized case involving his ex-partner, Grace Jabbari. Around the same time, he was also fired from his big job playing Kang the Conqueror in the MCU and his role playing Dennis Rodman in the biopic 48 Hours In Vegas.
Hailing from writer-director Elijah Bynum, Magazine Dreams sees Majors transform his physique to play a realistic depiction of an obsessive bodybuilder named Killian Maddox. Over the course of the film, Killian has aspirations of making a dent in the competitive community, but is occasionally overcome by a violent rage due to the steroids he injects to achieve his goal.
In his A.V. Club writeup of the film from 2023's Sundance Festival, Murtada Elfadl commented that "Majors, using his elastic face to convey a multitude of emotions, gives the type of physically transformative performance that gets people talking about awards." That conversation may now be back on the table, as Ortenberg tells Deadline the film is eyeing a wide theatrical release in "early 2025."
"Magazine Dreams is a visceral experience that challenges the perceptions of ambition and identity," Ortenberg said in a statement. "Jonathan Majors' transcendent performance as Killian Maddox will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the most compelling and transformative roles in recent cinema history." It's not that surprising that Briarcliff would be the one to take a shot on Majors. They're also distributing controversial Donald Trump-Roy Cohn biopic The Apprentice. Previously, the company released 2016 Best Picture winner Spotlight.