Source: Shareif Ziyadat/ Jared Siskin / Getty
Marlon Wayans is gearing up to be the lead in producer Jordan Peele’s latest project — the psychological sports thriller GOAT.
Wayans will play a team’s retiring golden athlete while a newcomer sportsman enters the fold, according to Deadline. Reportedly, the longtime actor-comedian-producer was always envisioned for the role. Besides Wayans playing the GOAT, aka the greatest of all time, much else isn’t known about the film’s plot. GOAT is based on an uncommissioned screenplay by Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie. The horror thriller is being produced by Peele’s Monkeypaw production company and Universal Pictures. Peele founded Monkeypaw in 2012, and it has since spawned several box office bangers, including Get Out, Us, and Candyman.
For GOAT, Justin Tipping (Kicks, Flatbush Misdemeanors) will direct.
Wayans landing the role follows various acting credits the 51-year-old Hollywood veteran has amassed, including his 2023 HBO Max special Marlon Wayans: God Loves Me and the guest hosting stint he did on The Daily Show. He produced and acted in Netflix’s 2022 film, The Curse of Bridge Hollow, and in 2021, he was in the Aretha Franklin biopic Respect. The comedian’s first serious acting role was in the 2000s Requiem For A Dream, where Wayans portrayed a character named Tyrone C. Love.
There’s no word yet on who will star as the young lead in GOAT. Word on the street is that the film’s casting department is screen-testing options.
Wayans expressed his excitement about starring in the Peele-produced project on Instagram Jan. 16.
“And so the journey begins. Looking [forward] to losing myself for a while. Let’s go! GOAT,” he wrote in one caption. “Manifesting… now be careful what you ask for. No excuses… shut up and do the work,” he added underneath a separate post.
On X, writer Akers specified that he and Bronkie sold GOAT as a script, not a pitch.
“Oh hey, look, my wildest dreams coming true,” he said in 2022, when Peele’s Monkeypaw won a bidding war for the horror film’s script.
When news of Monkeypaw’s purchase broke, Bronkie took to Instagram. He didn’t reveal anything about the sports thriller’s plot, but he wrote, “Been heads down on a new project with Zack and it ended up in the brilliant hands of Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions & Universal Pictures. Can’t wait for you all to see it.”
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