Jonathan Majors Sets Film Comeback in Ben Shapiro-Produced Daily Wire Movie
Jonathan Majors begins filming his first film since 2023, and it may sign his Hollywood comeback. Majors, who starred in hits Creed III and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, has reportedly begun filming an untitled motion film in South Carolina this week, marking his first main movie function since being dropped from a number of tasks, even a high-profile Army recruitment campaign. The challenge is being produced by Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire and Dallas Sonnier’s Bonfire Legend.
The movie is directed by Kyle Rankin, who additionally wrote the screenplay. Rankin beforehand collaborated with the identical manufacturing firms on Run Hide Fightone in every of The Daily Wire’s earliest characteristic tasks. Plot particulars are being stored tightly beneath wraps. Still, the story is described as in the spirit of 1980s and 1990s action films like Red Dawn and Toy Soldiersin which younger protagonists are compelled to defend themselves in opposition to invading enemies.
Producing alongside Shapiro and Sonnier are Travis Mills, Lillian Campbell and Sydney Aucreman. Executive producers embrace Caleb Robinson and Mike Richards for The Daily Wire, in addition to Majors himself beneath his Tall Street Productions banner. Cinematographer Kristopher Kimlin, casting director David Guglielmo, manufacturing designer Vincent Reynaud and costume designer Emma Fleming spherical out the important thing inventive staff.
No launch date has been introduced.
The New Project at Daily Wire
The Daily Wire has steadily expanded its leisure division in current years, shifting past political commentary into scripted movie and tv. Its largest manufacturing to this point, the fantasy sequence The Pendragon Cyclemarked a big step into mainstream style storytelling.
Majors’ casting matches a sample. The firm has beforehand labored with actors whose careers stalled amid controversy, including Armie Hammer and Gina Carano. Rather than competing immediately with conventional studios, The Daily Wire has positioned itself in its place pipeline for expertise and tasks that may battle to search out backing elsewhere.
The new motion movie seems designed as a throwback: muscular, high-stakes, and stripped of heavy franchise baggage. For Majors, that simplicity could also be strategic. A contained motion movie permits him to reintroduce himself to audiences with out the burden of a billion-dollar franchise hooked up.
What Happened to Jonathan Majors
Just a number of years in the past, Majors’ trajectory appeared unstoppable.
After breakout acclaim in The Last Black Man in San Francisco and HBO’s Lovecraft Countryhe shortly grew to become one in every of Hollywood’s most in-demand main males. I’ve headlined Creed III reverse Michael B. Jordan and took on a serious function in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Industry insiders broadly noticed him as a long-term franchise anchor.
That momentum halted in 2023, when Majors had been found guilty of assaulting his former girlfriend. In the instant aftermath, he was dropped from a number of tasks and misplaced key studio assist. Marvel minimize ties. Other movie commitments evaporated. Within months, a profession that had been ascending at full velocity got here to a close to standstill.
Since then, Majors has stored a decrease profile whereas pursuing new alternatives. He stays hooked up to star in the supernatural revenge thriller Mercilessintroduced in 2024. But the Daily Wire challenge marks its first manufacturing to maneuver into energetic filming because the conviction.
In Hollywood phrases, that makes this a real comeback try.
What This Could Mean for His Career
The query now’s whether or not this movie is a one-off or the start of a broader re-entry into mainstream filmmaking. Hollywood has a sophisticated historical past with second possibilities. Some actors rebuild by smaller unbiased tasks earlier than regaining studio belief. Others stay largely outdoors the system, working with different financiers and area of interest distributors.
The Daily Wire’s involvement complicates the equation. The firm’s model is politically distinct from most main studios, which may restrict crossover alternatives. At the identical time, if the movie performs properly commercially or generates robust viewers engagement, it might reveal that Majors nonetheless has drawing energy.
There can also be the matter of notion. For some viewers, Majors’ conviction will stay disqualifying. For others, particularly in an business the place redemption arcs are widespread, the main target could shift again to efficiency. His earlier work offered he can command a display screen. The open query is whether or not audiences are prepared to separate the artwork from the controversy.
From a enterprise perspective, unbiased and ideologically aligned manufacturing firms typically transfer quicker than legacy studios. If this movie succeeds, it may create a lane for Majors outdoors the normal Hollywood ecosystem. If it fails, it might reinforce the warning that has outlined studio decision-making since 2023.
For now, the optics are clear: cameras are rolling, contracts are signed, and Jonathan Majors is appearing once more.
