Magazine Dreams dropped by Searchlight, leaving the Jonathan Majors movie to be shopped to other buyers

This shouldn’t come as any surprise, but THR reports that Searchlight has dropped Magazine Dreams, the acclaimed body-building drama starring Jonathan Majors.

Searchlight snatched up Magazine Dreams fresh after its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last year. The film stars Majors as an amateur bodybuilder who struggles with severe psychological issues while dreaming of stardom. The buzz was very positive and looked to be a possible awards contender for Majors… but that all came crashing down when the actor faced allegations of assault and harassment which he was ultimately found guilty of.

The studio took Magazine Dreams off the release schedule prior to Majors’ trial, and once he was convicted, some wondered if the movie would ever see the light of day. The rights to Magazine Dreams have been returned to the filmmakers, who will be able to shop it to other buyers. “Magazine Dreams is the kind of film that will likely inspire a lot of discourse,” said our own Chris Bumbray in his review, “with the buzz out of Sundance being overwhelmingly positive, although the nihilism did rub some the wrong way. It’s a tough watch, but sometimes films like this are essential.” You can check out the rest of Bumbray’s review of Magazine Dreams right here.

With Creed III, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and Magazine Dreams, 2023 looked like it was going to be the year of Jonathan Majors, and it was, just not in the way he hoped. Marvel Studios dropped the actor shortly after his conviction. Majors played Kang the Conqueror in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with the intention that he would be the big bad of the Multiverse Saga. It remains to be seen if Marvel will recast the role or if they’ll go in another direction. He was also quietly dropped from the Dennis Rodman movie 48 Hours In Vegas.

In a recent interview with Good Morning America, Majors admitted that he was “shocked” at the verdict. “I’m standing there and the verdict comes down. I say, ‘How is that possible?’” Majors said. “Based off the evidence — based off the prosecution’s evidence, let alone our evidence — how is that possible?“