Dwayne Johnson & Director Benny Safdie Making ‘Lizard Music’
(Left) Dwayne Johnson arrives on the red carpet of the 95th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 12, 2023. (Right) Benny Safdie attends the Academy’s 2019 Annual Governors Awards in The Ray Dolby Ballroom on Sunday, October 27, 2019, in Hollywood, CA. Credit/Provider: Troy Harvey / ©A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S.
Preview:
- ‘The Smashing Machine’s Dwayne Johnson and director Benny Safdie are quickly making a new movie together.
- They’ll reunite for novel adaptation ‘Lizard Music’.
- Safdie and Johnson will also produce.
With their first collaboration –– ‘The Smashing Machine’, the biopic of MMA fighter and UFC champion Mark Kerr –– drawing strong reviews and awards buzz on the festival circuit, it’s perhaps not all that shocking to learn that star Dwayne Johnson and filmmaker Benny Safdie already have their eye on a new project to work on together.
“The unforgettable true story of a UFC legend.”
Release Date: Oct 3, 2025
Run Time: 2 hr 3 min
Budget: $40,000,000
According to Deadline, the pair is now in the process of setting up an adaptation of Daniel Pinkwater novel ‘Lizard Music’.
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What’s the story of ‘Lizard Music’?
Dwayne Johnson attends the World Premiere of Netflix’s ‘Red Notice’ at Regal LA Live. Photo: Kevin Mazur.
Pinkwater’s book is the story of a boy who is left to his own devices. When he stumbles upon a secret late-night broadcast of lizards playing otherworldly music, a hidden door to the extraordinary swings open. His search for answers leads him to the eccentric and whimsical Chicken Man and his beloved companion, a 70-year-old chicken named Claudia — two kindred spirits who have also glimpsed the impossible.
Safdie aims to write the adaptation and direct, while Johnson would look to stretch himself once more to play to play Chicken Man. The pair will also produce the movie.
The next step is to find a distributor for the film, which certainly sounds like it could be a tough sell –– but ‘The Smashing Machine’ is certainly generating hefty positive buzz and we’d be surprised if the duo hasn’t already started discussions with that movie’s backers, A24.
When will ‘Lizard Music’ be in theaters?
With no distribution deal yet, there isn’t a release date to relate as of now.
But you’ll be able to go and see ‘The Smashing Machine’ in cinemas from October 3rd.
Dwayne Johnson in ‘The Smashing Machine’. Photo: A24.