It's been almost a year since the first teaser trailer for The Toxic Avenger remake was released. Updates have since been few and far between, a surprise when reviews from various film festivals have been largely positive (it currently sits at 92% on Rotten Tomatoes).
Recently, it was claimed that filmmaker Macon Blair's movie starring Game of Thrones' Peter Dinklage is considered "unreleasable."
A producer supposedly connected to the project said The Toxic Avenger's commercial prospects are too "out there" for a traditional theatrical release, likely explaining why the movie still has no confirmed distributor. Why it hasn't been offloaded to a streaming platform is unclear, though it could be that agreements were made for it to be released theatrically.
Collider recently caught up with Dinklage and asked for another update; unfortunately, it sounds like he remains as in the dark as the rest of us.
"My friend Macon Blair, the writer-director of Toxic Avenger also plays Malachai in The Thicket. I love working with that man, I would do every movie with him if I could. But fingers crossed, it'll see cinemas soon," the actor said. "Write to your congressmen. I don't know what you do in this situation."
This comes after another recent interview with Dinklage which saw him say he hoped it would eventually "have its day in the toxic sun."
"It’s a lot of fun," he said of The Toxic Avenger in 2022. "I just wanted to do something that I’ve never done before. So why not be a monster in an over-the-top, crazy movie, and why not sing in another one?"
"It’s not a remake. I just like guerrilla filmmaking. Those movies – they just made them, no matter what. They just did it because they love doing it. Some of them are not the best, but some are so much fun," Dinklage continued. "When you make movies too clean, it can distance the audience. They want to feel the dirt under their fingernails. I think those Troma films definitely dipped the audience in toxic waste."
Written and directed by Macon Blair, Legendary Entertainment's The Toxic Avenger is a contemporary reimagining of Troma Entertainment’s 1984 cult classic of the same name created by Lloyd Kaufman. This film features a stellar ensemble, led by Peter Dinklage in the title role, that includes Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige, Julia Davis, Jonny Coyne, Elijah Wood, and Kevin Bacon.
The Toxic Avenger follows struggling everyman-janitor Winston Gooze, who is transformed by a horrible toxic accident into a new evolution of hero: The Toxic Avenger! Now with super-human strength and wielding a glowing mop for his unconventional weapon, he must race against time to save his son and stop a ruthless and power-hungry corporate tyrant bent on harnessing toxic superpowers to strengthen his polluted empire.
As noted, the movie doesn't have a confirmed release date.