Back at Sundance 2023, there was one movie that earned near universal acclaim with many talking about potential awards consideration but was shelved and never released— “Magazine Dreams.” For those that saw the film that year at Sundance, people just raved about its star, Jonathan Majors. But then he was arrested for assault and whatever plans there were to release the film were dashed. Now, it looks like it’s finally going to see the light of day.
READ MORE: 2024 Fall Film Preview: 50 Movies To Watch
According to Deadline, Briarcliff Entertainment has purchased the distribution rights for “Magazine Dreams.” The plan is for Briarcliff to release the film in early 2025. An exact date has yet to be announced. “Magazine Dreams” stars Majors as an aspiring bodybuilder who will go to great, possibly destructive lengths to achieve his dream.
As mentioned above, “Magazine Dreams” was poised to be an Oscar contender in 2023 after its Sundance launch. Searchlight Pictures had a December 2023 release date ready. But then the arrest of Jonathan Majors changed everything. Combine that with the SAG and WGA strikes and Searchlight dumped the movie.
After the film was dumped, we also saw the legal situation with Majors play out, where the actor was convicted of assault against a former partner. Many people assumed that would be the end for the actor’s career. Marvel Studios, who planned multiple movies surrounding the actor, immediately fired him. And it seemed as if he was going to have a lot of trouble finding studios who would work with him.
Now, it appears enough time has passed that Briarcliff thinks Majors can be a draw for the film. As for its awards season chances, that’s still a big question mark. We’ll just have to see what happens.
And for a bit of a left turn, there was other recent news about troubled films getting a release date. According to social media posts, the next “Scream” film, the seventh in the franchise, has finally secured a release date in February 2026. Not much is known about the film, but we do know that the stars of the two most recent hit films, Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega are not returning. Ortega is leaving because her schedule filled up, and Barrera got unceremoniously fired after posting pro-Palestinian things on social media. Shortly thereafter, the director of the film departed, leaving the film in limbo.
The studio behind the ‘Scream’ franchise eventually regrouped and brought on Kevin Williamson to direct the film. He’s the writer of the original “Scream.” Not only that, but the studio ended its feud with Neve Campbell and paid for her to return after she skipped “Scream VI.” Again, not much is known about this new version of the film. But it’s set to arrive in February 2026.