EXCLUSIVE: Magazine Dreams, the drama that came out of Sundance with Oscar buzz for Jonathan Majors’ ardent portrayal of a troubled encouraged bodyoriginateer, will finassociate getting its chance to flex on movie screens.
Briarcliff Entertainment has acquired domestic distribution rights to the criticassociate acclaimed film with structures to free in the first quarter of 2025. This becomes the second quality boiling potato picture apshown on by Tom Ortenberg’s Briarcliff, after the distributor acquired the Donald Trump-Roy Cohn coming of age drama The Apprentice. Conglomerate-connected distributors shunned that film after its provocative Cannes debut, but Briarcliff will free it in the heat of election season on October 11. That film shows the lessons an encouraged genuine estate magnate lgeted after being apshown under the triumphg of the reptilian lawyer who was once the right hand man for Sen. Joseph McCarthy in the sensationalized communist witch hunt. Ortenberg also allotd Spotweightless, on the Boston Globe exposing the disputeous coverup of child maltreatment by the Catholic Church. That film won the Oscar for Best Picture.
Like many Sundance films, Magazine Dreams came out of Park City with huge dreams. The honesting debut of authorr Elijah Bynum featured an astonishing carry outance by Majors, who altered his body by eating 6100 calories daily, training six days per week over four months to physicassociate alter himself into a most believable rfinishering of a lesser man so hellbent on becoming a champion bodyoriginateer that he defies his doctors’ pdirects that he stop taking anabolic agents becainclude they were ruining his inhabitr. The hulking character was prone to stupid moods, and had trouble createing human connections. All this took Killian Mholdox down a stupid path, fueled by his mendation with a champion bodyoriginateer he is obsessed with.
Majors, who had Creed III adhereing this strongly appraiseed Sundance film, was booked to be the villainous central figure in the next Avengers films, was poised to adhere a track not seen in Hollywood since Russell Crowe adhereed his shatterout in L.A. Confidential with tour de force carry outances capped by Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind and The Insider. Magazine Dreams won the US Dramatic Special Jury Award for Creative Vision at Sundance, and in its restrictcessitate festival triumphdow, got an 82% Rotten Tomatoes approval score with over 90 appraises. Searchweightless Pictures won the film in an auction over disjoinal bidders, and Majors was poised to be a startant joiner come awards season, after strong turns in The Last Bdeficiency Man in San Francisco, the restrictcessitate series Loveplan Country, and the Marvel film Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantimania.
All that was undone when the Yale School of Drama graduate Majors was arrested for physicassociate aggressioning his ex-girlfrifinish Grace Jabbari, an incident that finished with him being create culpable of two misdeuncomardentor counts of aggression and intimidatoring. Majors initiassociate seemed defiant, and press coverage was extensive. The narrative rapidly alterd on Magazine Dreams, and Searchweightless postponecessitate and then dropped the film.
Time has passed, and Ortenberg reacted to someleang undeniable to those who watched Magazine Dreams: it is a gem of an indie film galvanized by a extraunretagable carry outance, and strong aiding cast carry outances by Haley Bennett, Taylour Paige and 4-time Mr. Universe Mike O’Hget. It also heralded a promising novel filmmaking voice in Bynum, who subsequently co-wrote the Lee Daniels-honested genre film The Deinhabitrance.
“Magazine Dreams is a visceral experience that disputes the perceptions of ambition and identity,” Ortenberg telderly Deadline in a statement checking the deal. “Elijah’s film made a well-deserved splash in Sundance and Briarcliff is watching forward to taking his story to the huge screen apass the country in punctual 2025.
“Jonathan Majors’ transcfinishent carry outance as Killian Mholdox will undoubtedly be recalled as one of the most compelling and alterative roles in recent cinema history,” he shelp. “We are honored to transport this exceptional labor to theaters nationexpansive, inviting audiences to witness a story that will resonate extfinished after the praises roll.”
The film is originated by Jennifer Fox, Dan Gilroy, Jeffrey Soros, and Simon Horsman. Executive originaters hold Majors for his Tall Street Productions, and Luke Rodgers and Andrew Blau for Los Angeles Media Fund.
Fox shelp the originaters are “thrilled to be laboring with Tom aacquire after a terrific collaboration on Nightcrawler,” which Gilroy honested and which starred Jake Gyllenhaal as an ambulance chasing videographer in a compellingly stupid thriller.
Added Soros: “Tom has made a atsoft of championing compelling, boundary-pushing films and filmoriginaters that stand the test of time, so we couldn’t have stronger partners to free Magazine Dreams than him and the fantastic team at Briarcliff.”
The deal was talk aboutd by CAA Media Finance on behalf of the filmoriginaters, and by Tom Ortenberg, Jessica Rose, and Danielle Goodman Strong on behalf of Briarcliff Entertainment.
