Sometimes, a star in the sky turns out to be a shooting star—shining especially bright but burning out just as quickly. That’s a fitting way to describe the career of actor Jonathan Majors—admittedly, due to his own actions. Just as he was making a name for himself in Hollywood with films like White Boy Rick and Captive State, along with the series Lovecraft Country, he landed a major role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). As Kang the Conqueror, he was poised to follow in Josh Brolin’s footsteps as the next major Avengers villain, shaping the MCU for years. However, due to personal misconduct, he was ultimately dropped from all projects.
Majors remained out of the public eye for over a year, but now, at 35, he is making a return with a film he had completed before his career collapse. The bodybuilding drama Magazine Dreams has finally released its first trailer:
An underdog with a big dream—the trailer for Magazine Dreams evokes the relentless struggle for recognition seen in the timeless classic Rocky, starring Sylvester Stallone. At the same time, it carries a similar atmosphere to Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler—the film that briefly brought Mickey Rourke back into the spotlight. It’s hard not to see Magazine Dreams as Majors’ own The Wrestler. It looks very promising.
Magazine Dreams Was Unjustly Shelved
Killian Maddox (Jonathan Majors) has only one dream in his otherwise bleak life: to achieve worldwide fame as a bodybuilder. He craves the same attention as his idols—the ones whose posters cover his walls and whom he practically worships. But the socially isolated Killian risks not only his health but everything he holds dear in pursuit of this dream.
Following allegations of domestic violence—Majors was ultimately found guilty and convicted—his Marvel career fell apart, and interest in Magazine Dreams waned. Searchlight, a Disney-owned company, withdrew as the film’s distributor. The fate of writer-director Elijah Bynum’s (Hot Summer Nights) film, which was originally set for release in October 2023, seemed sealed. After all, who would want to release a film starring an actor with such negative press? It was an unfortunate situation for the entire team, especially since the drama had been well-received at film festivals.
Now, with Briarcliff Entertainment as the new distributor, the acclaimed film finally has a chance to be seen. In the U.S., Magazine Dreams—starring Jonathan Majors, Haley Bennett, Harriet Sansom Harris, Harrison Page, Michael O’Hearn, Bradley Stryker, and Taylor Paige—will be released in theaters on March 21, 2025. Whether and when it will premiere in other countries, possibly via streaming, remains uncertain.
For now, you can check out Elijah Bynum’s Hot Summer Nights, starring Timothée Chalamet, available for digital rental and purchase on Amazon.
Many of today’s Hollywood stars didn’t just start small—they looked very different back then, too.
