Early last year at the Sundance Film Festival, Disney’s Searchlight Pictures acquired the rights to distribute “Magazine Dreams” for about $2 million and had scheduled the film to come out in late 2023, ready for the awards season, since many expected it to be a contender for the Oscars.

The film is about an amateur bodybuilder, played by Jonathan Majors, who struggles to find human connection in the exploration of celebrity and violence.

While Disney was feeling postive about the buzz for the movie at the film festival and with the release of “Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania”, plus Kang being postioned as the main villain of the next Avengers movies, they thought this was a good pick up.

However, just weeks later, Jonathan Majors was arrested for assault and harassment of his ex-girlfriend, resulting in Disney’s Searchlight Pictures pausing the release of the movie. When he was found guilty, Searchlight Pictures returned the distribution rights of the movie to the filmmakers, washing their hands of the project.

Today, it’s been announced that Briarcliff Entertainment has acquired domestic distribution rights to the movie, with plans to release it in the first quarter of 2025. This isn’t the only conversial film to be picked up by Briarcliff, who will be releasing a new film about Donald Trump, with Sebastian Stan playing the role of the former President.

Briarcliff’s Tom Ortenberg confirmed the details to Deadline regarding it finally getting a release:

“Magazine Dreams is a visceral experience that challenges the perceptions of ambition and identity.  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.

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.”

Roger’s Take:  From Disney’s point of view, handing the project back was no doubt the right thing to do, and while I have no desire to see the film, I’m glad it’s getting a release for everybody else who worked on the movie. 

Will you be watching “Magazine Dreams”?  Let me know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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