The Toxic Avenger | |
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Directed by | Macon Blair |
Screenplay by | Macon Blair |
Based on | The Toxic Avenger by Lloyd Kaufman |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Dana Gonzales |
Edited by |
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Music by |
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Production companies | |
Distributed by | Cineverse |
Release dates |
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Running time | 102 minutes [1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Toxic Avenger is a 2023 American superhero black comedy splatter film written and directed by Macon Blair. It is the fifth installment in The Toxic Avenger film series. The film stars Peter Dinklage as the title character, alongside Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige, Kevin Bacon, Sarah Niles, Julia Davis, Julian Kostov, and Elijah Wood.
The Toxic Avenger premiered as the opening film of Fantastic Fest on September 21, 2023, with a wider theatrical release planned by Cineverse in the United States for August 29, 2025. [2]
Set in a fantasy world following janitor Winston Gooze who, after a freak accident, transforms into a mutant vigilante known as Toxie. Armed with his mop, the unlikely hero battles freaks, gangsters and corrupt CEOs while trying to save his relationship with his son. [3] [4]
In April 2010, a remake of The Toxic Avenger (1984) was announced. [9] The remake, said to be aiming for a "family-friendly" PG-13 release similar to the animated Toxic Crusaders television series, was set to be co-written and directed by Steve Pink. [10] In May 2013, Arnold Schwarzenegger was in talks for a role in the film. [11] He eventually dropped out to work on Terminator Genisys (2015). [12]
In September 2016, reports indicated that Conrad Vernon would direct the film, with Guillermo del Toro of Double Dare You, Bob Cooper and Alex Schwartz of Storyscape Entertainment, and Akiva Goldsman and Greg Lessans of Weed Road Pictures executive producing, while Mike Arnold and Chris Poole were attached to rewrite the screenplay by Pink and Daniel C. Mitchell. [13] In December 2018, Legendary Pictures won the rights to reboot The Toxic Avenger, with the original's producers, Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz of Troma Entertainment, returning. [14] In March 2019, Macon Blair was announced to write and direct. [15] Of the script, Kaufman said, "Macon Blair knows Troma better than I do. He's seen everything. He's seen the cartoon [Toxic Crusaders], he's seen the Halloween special, he's seen everything. And he loves our movies... I've read the script and it's better than the original and I leave it to him. If I'm called upon, I'd be happy to jump in. I learned on the musical to leave the creative to the creative. I learned to let them ask so if they want me, I'm there... I hope that Legendary keeps going. If they let Macon Blair direct it, I think it will be terrific. He knows the Troma sense of humor, the combination of slapstick, and satire with the environmental theme. [16]
In November 2020, Peter Dinklage came on board to star. [17] Additional cast members were revealed from April to June 2021. [18] [19] [20] [21] Principal photography commenced on June 21, 2021 in Bulgaria and wrapped on August 14, 2021. [20] [22] [4] In December 2021, Dinklage said the film was "not a remake". [23] In January 2022, Blair confirmed the film will employ practical gore effects, and the time period setting will be a "little bit of both" in the past and present. [8]
The Toxic Avenger premiered as the opening film of Fantastic Fest on September 21, 2023. [1] The film also played at Beyond Fest on September 30, 2023, before having its international debut at the 56th Sitges Film Festival, as part of the Out of Competition section, on October 13, 2023. [24] [25]
In July 2024, it was reported that the reason for the film being unreleased for wider audiences was due to ongoing difficulties in securing a distributor. It has been described as "unreleasable" due to its gore and graphic content. Filmmaker and producer Adam Masnyk stated on X that no distributors have come forward, citing concerns that it is "not safe enough to market," and suggesting it could potentially become lost media. [26] However, in January 2025, it was announced that Cineverse had acquired the distribution rights to the film, with plans to release it theatrically later that year; that same month, the company scheduled it for release in the United States on August 29, 2025. [27] [3] [2]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 92% of 25 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.0/10.The website's consensus reads: "Like the original, The Toxic Avenger isn't for everyone – but viewers seeking an extremely gory, extremely silly good time won't be disappointed." [28] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 66 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [29]
The Toxic Avenger is a 1984 American superhero comedy splatter film produced and directed by Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufman from a screenplay by Joe Ritter, based on a story by Kaufman. The film was produced and released by Troma Entertainment. It is the first installment in The Toxic Avenger film series and generated a media franchise.
Peter Hayden Dinklage is an American actor. Portraying Tyrion Lannister on the HBO television series Game of Thrones (2011–2019), Dinklage won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series a record four times. He also received a Golden Globe Award in 2011 and a Screen Actors Guild Award in 2020 for the role. Dinklage has a common form of dwarfism known as achondroplasia, and stands 4 ft 5 in (1.35 m) tall. He has used his celebrity status to raise social awareness of dwarfism.
The Toxic Avenger Part II is a 1989 American superhero splatter- comedy film released by Troma Entertainment. It is the second installment of The Toxic Avenger franchise. It was directed by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz and features The Toxic Avenger in an adventure to Japan to meet his father. Devilman and Cutie Honey creator Go Nagai makes a cameo appearance. The film is also the debut of actor/martial artist Michael Jai White and musician/composer/performance artist Phoebe Legere.
Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV is a 2000 American superhero splatter comedy film directed by Lloyd Kaufman and written by Trent Haaga. It is the fourth installment of The Toxic Avenger franchise. Despite being the third sequel to The Toxic Avenger, Stan Lee's opening narration claims that Citizen Toxie is, in fact, the official sequel to the first film, disacknowledging the events of the first two sequels.
Adam Wingard is an American filmmaker. He has served as a film director, producer, screenwriter, editor, cinematographer, actor, and composer on numerous American films.
The Toxic Avenger is an American superhero black comedy splatter film media franchise created by Lloyd Kaufman. It originated with the 1984 film of the same name and continued through three film sequels, a stage musical, a comic book series from Marvel Comics, a video game, and an animated television series.
Taylour Paige-Angulo is an American actress. She received recognition for starring in the VH1 sports drama series Hit the Floor (2013–2016) and the comedy drama film Jean of the Joneses (2016). Her breakthrough role was the titular lead in the black comedy crime film Zola (2020), winning the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead. She then starred in the drama film Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020) and the comedy drama film Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024).
Temple Hill Entertainment or Temple Hill Productions is an American film and television production company, established in 2006 by producers Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen. The studio produced the Twilight film series. In 2020, the studio signed a TV deal with Lionsgate.
Peter Dinklage is an American actor and producer. He studied acting at the Bennington College where he starred in a number of amateur stage productions. He made his film debut in the 1995 comedy-drama Living in Oblivion. After appearing in a series of supporting parts in much of the 1990s and early 2000s, he made his breakthrough by starring in the Tom McCarthy-directed comedy-drama The Station Agent (2003), which had him play a railroad-obsessed introvert who inherits an abandoned train depot. He was cast in the role by director Tom McCarthy who recalled fondly his appearance in McCarthy's play The Killing Act (1995). For his performance, he received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Best Actor and an Independent Spirit Awards nomination for Best Male Lead. In the same year, Dinklage played the title role in the play Richard III at The Public Theater. He also played a children's book author in the comedy Elf. In 2006, he appeared in the Sidney Lumet-directed crime film Find Me Guilty. He followed with roles in the films Underdog (2007), the British film Death at a Funeral (2007), with its American remake of the same name (2010) and Trumpkin in the high fantasy film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008).
Jacob Tremblay is a Canadian actor. He became known for his role as a child born in captivity in Room (2015), for which he won the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer and became the youngest nominee for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role.
Macon Blair is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, comic book writer and actor known for his roles in the films Blue Ruin (2013) and Green Room (2015), as well as his directorial debut I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017).
Disney's Snow White, or simply Snow White, is an upcoming American musical fantasy film directed by Marc Webb from a screenplay by Greta Gerwig and Erin Cressida Wilson. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Marc Platt Productions, it is a live-action reimagining of Walt Disney Productions' 1937 animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which itself is based on the 1812 fairy tale "Snow White" by the Brothers Grimm. The film stars Rachel Zegler, Andrew Burnap, and Gal Gadot.
Brothers is a 2024 American crime comedy film directed by Max Barbakow with a screenplay by Macon Blair from a story by Etan Cohen. The film stars Josh Brolin, Peter Dinklage, Taylour Paige, M. Emmet Walsh, Marisa Tomei, Brendan Fraser, and Glenn Close.
Phase Six of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is a group of American superhero films and television series to be produced by Marvel Studios based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. Phase Six features all of the Marvel Studios productions set to be released starting from mid-2025 to mid-2027, with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures distributing the films, while the series release on Disney+. Live-action series are released under Marvel Studios' "Marvel Television" label, while animation in the phase was produced by Marvel Studios Animation. The first film in the phase will be The Fantastic Four: First Steps, scheduled for release in July 2025, with the first series in the phase being the animated Eyes of Wakanda, set for release in August 2025. The release schedule of Phase Six was changed several times due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes. Kevin Feige produces every film and executive produces every television series in this phase, alongside producers Anthony and Joe Russo for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, and Amy Pascal for the untitled Spider-Man: No Way Home sequel.