Searchlight’s buzzy Sundance acquisition Magazine Dreams has been unset from its December 8 release slot in the run-up to Jonathan Major’s domestic abuse trial.
Majors earned rave reviews in Park City for his portrayal of a troubled aspiring bodybuilder. Buyers pursued the drama written and directed by Elijah Bynum and Searchlight confirmed in February that it had picked up worldwide rights.
Magazine Dreams would have ranked as a strong awards play for Majors in any season, however in light of the actor’s pending November 29 trial the studio pulled the film on Friday.
Majors has denied all charges stemming from his arrest and subsequent release on March 25 after former girlfriend Grace Jabbari was taken to hospital with minor head and neck injuries.
Searchlight has a robust awards line-up, with Yorgos Lanthimos’s Venice Golden Lion winner Poor Things starring Emma Stone among the expected heavyweights. Andrew Haigh’s UK drama All Of Us Strangers starring Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal is also gathering momentum and leads the Gotham Awards nominations on four nods.
In other Disney schedule changes announced on Friday and most likely due to disruption caused by the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, the studio pushed two 2024 films into the following year: Pixar’s Elio moves from March 1 2024 to June 13 2025; and Disney’s Snow White is pushed from March 22 2024 to March 21 2025.
Untitled Disney moves from February 14 2024 to April 5 2024. Untitled Disney and Untitled Pixar dated March 21 2025 and June 13 2025, respectively, have been removed from the schedule.
Earlier in the day Warner Bros said it was pushing the Robert De Niro and Debra Messing mob drama Alto Knights (formerly Wise Guys) from February 2 2024 to November 15 2024. Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom remains on course for a 2023 year-end release but will now open on December 22 and not Wednesday December 20.
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