Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Kayleigh Donaldson | Film | May 29, 2026
It takes a long time to make a film. From conception to release, sometimes, you could wait years to pull it off. Even if shooting is over, the postproduction stages and sheer political nightmare of seeking a distributor or fighting with studio heads can take up a decent chunk of your life. Still, whenever a film is announced that I'm excited for and it seemingly disappears into the ether, I have to wonder what's up. And that brings us to Wizards!
Written and directed by Australian filmmaker David Michôd, the man behind The King annd Christy, Wizards! (the exclamation point is crucial) stars Pete Davidson as a stoner bar owner who stumbles across some stolen loot, leading to a lot of dark, funny, and gross shenanigans. Joel Edgerton has a story credit. The producers include Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner of Plan B. A24 was distributing it. Rounding out the cast are Sean Harris, Orlando Bloom, and German actor Franz Rogowski. Shooting began in the Summer of 2022.
It was expected to be released the following year, but then Michôd said he was still in the process of editing. For those of you who don't know, it's now May of 2026. Wizards! doesn't have a release date, nor have there been any rumblings of one being announced in the near future. This is weird.
It seems that, perhaps, Michôd and A24 have struggled to whip this one into shape, at least for a wide audience. Rogowski, who would have made his Hollywood debut with this had it been released in 2023 (he's since been in Bird and will star in that remake of Cliffhanger we're all so excited for), told Indiewire in 2023 that he had "no idea" what was going on with the film's delayed release. "I guess they're working on the editing. It's taking them quite a while, but David and A24 are figuring it out. As far as I know, they had a version, and now they are editing a new version. They're still looking for the right tone." Orlando Bloom was asked about it by Collider and he had no updates to give either, but said it had a "really unique style of comedy."
Some filmmakers take a long time in the editing suite. Just ask Terence Malick about his Jesus movie that finished shooting in 2019 (also starring Franz Rogowski!) It's not unheard of for a director to take it slow, to the point where studios take it off the schedule. But usually when this happens, it's not for good reasons.
A 2023 report from World of Reel shared some comments from an alleged attendee to one of the film's test-screenings. They said the film was "the most pointless film of the year" and that it contained a scene where "they are forced to eat sh*t, literal sh*t." Well, that might do it. Test screenings are obviously weird places and sometimes even masterpieces get slammed by the viewers, but they do a lot of work in shaping a studio's approach to a movie's release. If Wizards! received, at best, divisive reactions, A24 may have decided to have Michôd do another round of editing to reshape it into something more palatable. I'm not sure how key to the plot the poop eating may or may not be. Audiences like disgusting indies. Look at The Substance. But some things are always a hard sell.
Last year, Michôd attended an event in Australia where he said of the movie, "It's f*cking great, by the way." I'd like to see it for myself, certainly, if only because I love Franz Rogowski. Let's hope this one isn't shelved forever like All-Star Weekend.
