Magazine Dreams

Magazine Dreams follows aspiring bodybuilder Killian Maddox (Majors), who struggles to find human connection in this exploration of celebrity and violence. Nothing deters him from his fiercely protected dream of superstardom, not even the doctors who warn him of the permanent damage he causes to himself with his quest.^[2]

• Jonathan Majors as Killian Maddox, an aspiring bodybuilder
• Haley Bennett as Jessie, a grocery store worker and Maddox's love-interest
• Taylour Paige as Pink Coat, a prostitute
• Mike O'Hearn as Brad Vanderhorn, a professional bodybuilder and Killian's idol
• Harrison Page as William Lattimore, Killian's grandfather
• Harriet Sansom Harris as Killian's counselor
• Bradley Stryker as Ken Donaghue, a roofing and plumbing worker who assaults Killian
• Dan Donahue as Dr. Prescott, Killian's doctor
• Craig Cackowski as a bodybuilding contest judge who placed Killian poorly
• Andrea Figliomeni as waitress who tells Killian his date had to leave

In October 2021, Jonathan Majors joined the cast of the film, with Elijah Bynum directing from a screenplay he wrote, with Majors also serving as an executive producer, and Jennifer Fox and Dan Gilroy serving as producers.^[3] In July 2022, Haley Bennett, Taylour Paige and Mike O'Hearn joined the cast of the film.^[4]

In preparation for the role, Majors ate 6,100 calories a day for four months and trained for six hours every day to obtain and maintain the extreme muscular physique of his role.^[5]

Magazine Dreams had its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2023.^[6] For the premiere, the production team declined to provide a open captioned print of the film, and the alternate seat-side captioning device provided to juror Marlee Matlin malfunctioned, thus the jurors collectively walked out of the initial screening in support of Matlin's inability to watch it. According to a statement from Sundance, the device was repaired and the jurors were able to screen the film later, as a group.^[7] The following month, Searchlight Pictures acquired distribution rights to the film, beating out bidders including Neon, Sony Pictures Classics and HBO.^[2]

The film was originally scheduled to be released theatrically on December 8, 2023,^[8] but in October 2023, Searchlight's parent, Walt Disney Studios, removed the film from its release schedule in response to both the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike and assault allegations against Majors.^[9][10] Following Majors' conviction for assault and harassment in December of that year, The Hollywood Reporter said it was "unlikely" that Searchlight would still release the film, either theatrically or direct-to-streaming.^[11]

In January 2024, it was officially announced that Searchlight had quietly returned the film rights to the filmmakers, so they could shop it to other distributors.^[12]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 84% of 92 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.10/10. The website's consensus reads: "Its dramatic form may get a little wobbly during certain reps, but Jonathan Majors' incredibly committed performance makes Magazine Dreams well worth a watch."^[13] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 72 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.^[14]

• Magazine Dreams at IMDb