Dwayne Johnson and Benny Safdie’s Lizard Music to move to the groove at Amazon MGM

After getting in the Octagon together for The Smashing Machine, Dwayne Johnson and Benny Safdie hope to make beautiful music together with the upcoming film project Lizard Music, based on Daniel Pinkwater’s novel. The adaptation finds Safdie directing Johnson in the role of Chicken Man, which could be the muscle-bound entertainer’s most bizarre character yet. Today, we’re hearing that Amazon MGM is set to distribute Lizard Music for the Johnson and Safdie project.

Deadline’s description of Pinkwater’s story paints a strange picture: “When a boy left to his own devices 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 seventy-year-old chicken named Claudia—two kindred spirits who have also glimpsed the impossible. United by this shared vision, they set off on an adventure that begins as a hunt for a hidden society but blossoms into something far greater: a voyage through invisible worlds, unexpected harmonies, and the unbreakable bond between lost souls who discover magic not only in what they find, but in each other.”

Benny Safdie will produce Lizard Music for Down For The Count Productions, with Johnson through Sven Bucks Productions, and David Koplan, who produced The Smashing Machine.

Unfortunately, despite winning the Silver Lion at Venice for The Smashing Machine, the drama chronicling the life and career of MMA legend Mark Kerr only managed to bodyslam $17.1M worldwide at the box office. With Lizard Music sounding like even more of a gamble than Smashing Machine, I hope the new project’s bizarre concept can break through to mainstream audiences.

What do you think about the concept for Lizard Music? Would you follow a character named Chicken Man into the unknown? Will Johnson and Safdie continue betting on one another after The Smashing Machine failed at the box office? Why do you think the duo’s MMA drama went unseen by most audiences? What band does Lizard Music sound like? My guess is a combination of DEVO and Talking Heads. Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

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