Benny Safdie, Dwayne Johnson reunite for new film ‘Lizard Music’

After receiving a thunderous review of The Smashing Machine at Venice, Benny Safdie and Dwayne Johnson are already gearing up for their next project.

Safdie will adapt Daniel Pinkwater’s cult novel, Lizard Music, and step behind the camera again, with Johnson set to embody the eccentric Chicken Man.

The package is expected to hit the market soon.

Safdie walked away from Venice with the Silver Lion, while Johnson and co-star Emily Blunt soaked in a roaring ovation for their performances.

Safdie will produce under his Down for the Count banner, alongside Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions and David Koplan, who also backed The Smashing Machine.

At the heart of Lizard Music is a young boy’s discovery of a strange, late-night TV broadcast—lizards playing unearthly tunes—that pulls him into a hidden world.

His search for meaning introduces him to Chicken Man and his 70-year-old feathered sidekick, Claudia. What begins as a hunt for a secret society transforms into a surreal odyssey through unseen worlds, unexpected harmonies, and the unlikely kinship of lost souls chasing wonder.

For Johnson, who once sat in a makeup chair as the Scorpion King dreaming about Polynesian epics, this marks another evolution.

From action powerhouses to heartfelt comedies, he’s proven his versatility. Now, between The Smashing Machine and this whimsical new venture, he seems set on reshaping the boundaries of his stardom.

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