Goat: Marlon Wayans to star in Jordan Peele-produced sports horror film

A year and a half ago, Get Out, Us, and Nope writer/director Jordan Peele‘s production company Monkeypaw Productions acquired the genre film pitch Goat from writers Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie, the plan being that Peele would be producing Goat as part of Monkeypaw’s overall deal with Universal Pictures. Now Goat is finally moving forward. Deadline reports that Marlon Wayans (Scary Movie) has signed on to star in the sports-related horror film as the titular greatest-of-all-time athlete, while Justin Tipping – who made his feature directorial debut with the 2016 drama Kicks – is on board to direct the film.

Akers and Bronkie’s script centers on a promising young athlete who is invited to train with a team’s retiring star. How exactly horror enters the picture is being kept under wraps. ComicBook.com has heard that the script centers on a rookie QB who goes to train with a retiring star QB who may hold a secret about how he has played so long at such a high level. So obviously the GOAT has been using unusual methods to achieve his success, and finding out about them are going to cause the rookie some trouble.

Deadline notes, “While execs have taken the screen-testing route for finding the young athlete character, sources say Wayans was always top of the studio’s list for its GOAT.”

Writers Akers and Bronkie previously created the Facebook Watch series Limetown, which starred Jessica Biel. Since making Kicks, Tipping has gone on to direct episodes of multiple TV shows, including Black Monday, The Chi, Dear White People, Dare Me, Twenties, Run the World, Flatbush Misdemeanors, and Joe vs. Carole.

Peele is producing Goat with Win Rosenfeld, Ian Cooper, and Jamal Watson. David Kern and Kate Oh serve as executive producers. Universal EVP Production Development Sara Scott and Director of Development Tony Ducret are overseeing the project for the studio.

Does Goat sound interesting to you? What do you think of Marlon Wayans being cast as the story’s greatest-of-all-time athlete? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.

In addition to producing Goat, Peele is working on his fourth feature and producing a remake of Wes Craven’s The People Under the Stairs.