Overview
- Images published Thursday show Johnson in heavy prosthetics and costume on a Brooklyn set playing a 70-year-old character called the Chicken Man alongside child actor Theo Clark Leber.
- The prosthetic transformation is credited to Oscar-winning makeup artist Kazu Hiro and continues a recent pattern of Johnson taking on physically transformative, character-driven roles.
- Benny Safdie wrote and is directing the live-action/CGI adaptation of Daniel Pinkwater’s children’s book and this marks his second collaboration with Johnson after The Smashing Machine.
- Amazon MGM is backing the production with producers Scott Stuber, Nick Nesbitt and Seven Bucks Productions and the cast includes Regina Hall, Colman Domingo, Rachel McAdams, Jeff Goldblum and others.
- The film is set for a December 25, 2027 theatrical release, placing it in a crowded holiday slate and signaling a high-profile repositioning of Johnson toward eccentric, performance-focused fare.