Australian director David Michôd’s been silent since his last film, a Shakespeare adaptation entitled “The King,” hit Netflix in late 2019. But silent no more, he’s back with another Australian crime film cut from the same cloth as “Animal Kingdom,” albeit with a stoner comedy twist.
“Wizards!” follows Pete Davidson and Franz Rogowski as two pothead beach-bar operators who stumble across some stolen loot and lack the good sense to leave it alone. Naomi Scott and Sean Harris also star, with Harris having a prominent role in “The King.” Davidson and Rogowski teaming up will raise eyebrows. Davidson’s a Staten Island-based comic and SNL star, while Rogowski’s known for his work with excellent European filmmakers like Michale Haneke and Christian Petzold. A very intriguing leading cast all around.
Michôd writes and directs “Wizards!,” based on a story he drew up with frequent collaborator Joel Edgerton. A24 handles the film’s global release, while Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner co-produce through Plan B with Liz Watts. Watts produces through See-Saw Films, her second team-up with Michôd after 2014’s dystopian outback thriller “The Rover.”
“Wizards!” is A24 and Plan B’s fourth film together, after “Moonlight,” “Minari,” and “The Last Black Man In San Francisco,” all award-winners. Michôd also worked with Plan B on “The King” and his other Netflix movie, 2017’s “War Machine.”
All four stars of “Wizards!” are busy with other projects. Davidson’s about to wrap up another year on SNL, and “Bodies Bodies Bodies,” an A24 slasher, hits theaters this summer. Scott’s next film is Amblin’s sci-fi project “Distant.” Rogowski just wrapped work on Terence Malick’s latest, “The Way Of The Wind.” And Harris just finished another Australian crime thriller, Thomas M. Wright’s “The Stranger.”
How will “Wizards!” stack up against the likes of “Animal Kingdom” and “The Rover”? We’ll likely have to wait until late next year at the earliest to find out.