EXCLUSIVE: Jonathan Majors is set to star in and produce Da Understudy from Westbrook Studios and Amazon Studios. Majors will produce the feature under his Tall Street Productions umbrella. Amazon Studios landed the script on spec in a competitive situation. Sources said that Spike Lee is circling to direct, which would reunite the filmmaker with Majors after Da 5 Bloods.
Tom Hanada (Motherland), Zach Strauss (SMILF) and Tyler Cole wrote the screenplay, which is based on an original story by Cole and developed in-house by Westbrook.
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Michael B. Jordan On Knockout Directing Debut ‘Creed III,’ Trading Blows With Jonathan Majors
Deal comes after the record-breaking opening-weekend grosses for MGM and Amazon on Creed III. Majors plays Damian Anderson, a childhood pal of Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) who becomes a towering antagonist for his old friend in the ring in what became the biggest opener in the Rocky and Creed canons, and the largest-ever opening for a sports film.
Da Understudy tells the story of life imitating art when the understudy of a Broadway production finds a role he’s willing to kill for.
In addition to Majors, Will Smith, Westbrook Studios Co-President & Head of Motion Pictures Jon Mone and Mike Soccio will produce the film, with Lee and Tyler Cole serving as executive producers. Ryan Shimazaki will oversee the project on behalf of Westbrook.
This is becoming quite a breakout year for Majors. After showing his chops in films like The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Devotion and The Harder They Fall, and the limited series Lovecraft Country, Majors started the year in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, a stepping stone to reprising the villain Kang the Conqueror in future Avengers films being readied by Marvel. Then came Creed III, and he will end the year with Magazine Dreams, playing an aspiring but emotionally troubled amateur bodybuilder who falls down the proverbial rabbit hole in the Elijah Bynum-directed drama. The film became a big buzz title at the recent Sundance Film Festival and was acquired by Searchlight Pictures, which will release in Oscar season, where the emotional and physical work that Majors put into his character ought to put him in the center of the awards conversation.
Majors will next head into production on The Man in My Basement, the film adaptation of the Walter Mosley novel. He stars and executive produces through his Tall Street banner. He is also set to star as Dennis Rodman in Lionsgate’s 48 Hours in Vegas and will serve as a producer through Tall Street.
Among the film projects Westbrook Studios is percolating are Bad Boys 4; the Akiva Goldsman-scripted I Am Legend sequel with Will Smith and Michael B. Jordan; a film inspired by the Smith-DJ Jazzy Jeff feel-good hit tune Summertime; and a joint project with NASCAR and The Chainsmokers.
Majors is represented by WME, Entertainment 360 & Jackoway Austen; Hanada is repped by Paradigm, Navigation and Hirsch Wallerstein.
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