“Magazine Dreams,” the indie drama starring Jonathan Majors, will finally get a chance to play in theaters.
Briarcliff Entertainment has acquired the U.S. rights to director Elijah Bynum’s “Magazine Dreams” and is planning a theatrical release for Q1 2025. The film first premiered at Sundance in 2023 and was acquired by Searchlight Pictures, then dated for an awards season release, with Majors in particular being considered a Best Actor contender.
But following the conviction of Majors on a charge of assault and harassment, Searchlight removed it from its release slate and dropped it to the open market, leaving the film in limbo for months.
Briarcliff is the distributor that’s also giving the Donald Trump film “The Apprentice” a theatrical run, another movie that struggled to find distribution as a result of a conflict between one of the film’s financiers, former Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder, over the film’s content.
“Magazine Dreams” stars Majors as Killian Maddox, an amateur bodybuilder with dreams of stardom appearing on magazine covers who lets his relentless drive push him to the brink of sanity. The film also stars Haley Bennett, Taylour Paige, and Mike O’Hearn, the four-time Mr. Universe. The film was both written and directed by Bynum.
“Magazine Dreams is a visceral experience that challenges the perceptions of ambition and identity,” Briarcliff CEO Tom Ortenberg said in a statement. “Elijah’s film made a well-deserved splash in Sundance and Briarcliff is looking forward to taking his story to the big screen across the country in early 2025.”
He continued: “Jonathan Majors’ transcendent performance as Killian Maddox will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the most compelling and transformative roles in recent cinema history. We are honored to bring this extraordinary work to theaters nationwide, inviting audiences to witness a story that will resonate long after the credits roll.”
“Magazine Dreams” is produced by Jennifer Fox, Dan Gilroy, Jeffrey Soros, and Simon Horsman. Executive producers include Majors for his Tall Street Productions, and Luke Rodgers and Andrew Blau for Los Angeles Media Fund.
“We are thrilled to be working with Tom again after a terrific collaboration on ‘Nightcrawler’,” Fox said.
“Tom has made a career of championing compelling, boundary-pushing films and filmmakers that stand the test of time, so we couldn’t have stronger partners to release ‘Magazine Dreams’ than him and the great team at Briarcliff,” Soros said.
The deal was negotiated by CAA Media Finance on behalf of the filmmakers, and by Tom Ortenberg, Jessica Rose, and Danielle Goodman Strong on behalf of Briarcliff Entertainment.
More to come…
