Save the date: Dwayne Johnson and Benny Safdie’s Lizard Music hits Christmas 2027
Amazon MGM Studios has locked in a release date for Benny Safdie’s otherworldly reunion with Dwayne Johnson, and the slot they’ve chosen suggests they fancy its chances.
Things have got a bit more intriguing in Dwayne Johnson's career since the whole Black Adam situation fizzled. Instead of doubling down on the biceps-and-explosions routine, The Rock has sailed into artier, riskier waters. After playing MMA legend Mark Kerr in Benny Safdie's drama The Smashing Machine, which didn't pull in megabucks but did earn him some overdue acting respect, he's not exactly abandoning blockbusters—but he does seem to have a taste for the quirky now. Case in point: Safdie and Johnson are already cooking up their next film together, and it's called Lizard Music.
Lizard Music arrives in UK cinemas on 25 December 2027.
A Boy, a Chicken, and... Lizard Bands?
In a bit of a left-turn for all involved, Lizard Music is a blend of live-action and CGI, and it's set to hit cinemas (yes, actual cinemas, not just streaming) at Christmas—in 2027, if you can believe it. Amazon MGM Studios is handling the release, which tells you they must be confident about its chances or at least keen to be associated with 'that weird lizard thing with The Rock'.
The plot, if you can call it that, is based on a novel and genuinely sounds madder than a box of frogs. You've got a young boy, more or less left to his own devices, who discovers a late-night hidden TV programme featuring lizards performing bizarre music. From there, it goes up a notch: he meets the so-called Chicken Man, the sort of eccentric you only ever find in these stories, who wanders about with his seventy-year-old chicken named Claudia. The boy, Chicken Man, and Claudia join forces, chasing after some secret society, only for things to get even stranger with portals to invisible worlds and all sorts of oddball revelations. If you're hoping for another DC Universe punchup, best look elsewhere.
Who's Actually in This?
This is where things get genuinely surprising. The cast is packed with some rather interesting choices, including:
- Dwayne Johnson (presumably in the Chicken Man role, though that's not spelled out)
- Theo Clark Leber
- Alicia Silverstone
- Tim Heidecker
- Arya Parvathi
- Regina Hall
- Colman Domingo
- Jeff Goldblum
- Rachel McAdams
- Andrew Dice Clay
- David Krumholtz
Benny Safdie is back at the producer's table after directing Johnson in The Smashing Machine. Johnson's own production label, Sven Bucks Productions, is also involved (presumably still using that name—who knows if that's a dig at anyone). They're joined by David Koplan, who helped produce their MMA biopic experiment.
Johnson Not Letting Go of Blockbusters Just Yet
If you thought Johnson was going fully indie, don't worry—there's yet another Jumanji coming as well, and that's due this Christmas, 2026. The new one, dubbed Jumanji: Open World, brings back the main four (let's be honest, they're not recasting those roles), plus a raft of familiar faces: Alex Wolff, Madison Iseman, Ser'Darius Blaine, Morgan Turner, Bebe Neuwirth, Danny DeVito, Lamorne Morris, Marin Hinkle, Nick Jonas, and Rhys Darby all reportedly return. They've even thrown in some fresh names for good measure—Brittany O'Grady (from The White Lotus), Burn Gorman, Dan Hildebrand, and Jack Jewkes. No major reinvention, but you get the idea: keep the tentpoles coming, but leave a little room on the side for lizards, chickens, and late-night telly.