Jonathan Majors' 'Magazine Dreams' Flopped at the Box Office

Editor's Note: This post was originally published in December 2024 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Magazine Dreams is a psychological drama starring Jonathan Majors as Killian Maddox, an isolated amateur bodybuilder whose obsessive pursuit of perfection leads to his own self-destruction. The film, directed by Elijah Bynum, explores themes of identity, ambition, and mental health. It premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and was initially set for a December 2023 release.

TheJonathan Majors-led film that was originally supposed to be distributed by Searchlight Pictures before it dropped the movie following the assault and harassment charges Majors faced against his ex-girlfriend, found a new distributor and release date.

Magazine Dreamsreleased on March 21, 2025 to a lukewarm box office reception, netting only $701,365 of an unexpected $1 million opening weekend. The film performed slightly better with critics, scoring an average 7 out of 10 and an 80% with Rotten Tomatoes.

“Dozens of incredibly talented people poured their time, energy and creativity into bringing this film to life, and I am immensely proud of their work,” Elijah Bynum, who wrote and directed the movie, said in a statement, per Deadline. “I’m grateful to Tom Ortenberg and Briarcliff Entertainment for their unwavering support, passion and for giving this film the opportunity to reach a wider audience.”

Deadline also reported that the forthcoming film’s marketing partner will be Zeus Network, the streaming platform behind Blueface & Chrisean: Crazy In Love, Baddiesand other polarizing reality TV shows. On social media, some posts have been shared suggesting that Zeus is the distributor of the movie, but that’s not the case.

Magazine Dreams, which made its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last year, was supposed to be a standout for Majors, with the actor having also appeared in big-name movies like Creed IIIand Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniain 2023.

However, the movie’s wide theatrical release (and Majors’s career) came to a halt when Majors was charged with assault and harassment by his ex-girlfriend, Grace Jabbari.

In December of last year, he was convicted on counts of misdemeanor assault and harassment against Jabbari.