Jonathan Majors To Star In Supernatural Revenge Thriller ‘Merciless’ From Martin Villeneuve

EXCLUSIVE: Jonathan Majors is set to star in the revenge thriller Merciless, which is based on an original screenplay by Frank Hannah. Martin Villeneuve, the younger brother of filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, will direct. The younger Villeneuve is best known for his sci-fi opus Mars et Avril.

Merciless follows a top CIA interrogator who, after the woman he loves is overtaken by a malevolent force, is forced to go even darker to defeat it. The film will mark Majors’ first role since his third degree assault and harassment conviction earlier this year. The movie will shoot in Saskatchewan in late fall.

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“Merciless intertwines themes of possession, revenge and personal justice within a haunting narrative. It explores the psychological descent of John, played by Majors, and the supernatural forces challenging his sanity,” Villeneuve says.

The project was developed by producer Christopher Tuffin, who will soon unveil his new global media venture heading into the Toronto Film Festival. It is expected to be demonstrative of his new venture’s disruptive nature, one that, according to Tuffin, “refuses to let the court of public opinion and selective prosecution undermine great art and artists.”

Tuffin played a big part in the success of Sound of Freedom, which became one of the big box office hits last summer, grossing more then $250 million worldwide theatrically (and $400M in all media).

“In graduate school, I had the good fortune to study screenwriting under Blacklist scribe Millard Lampell and learned from him the dangers of letting politics undermine due process and deprive artists of their careers,” Tuffin states. “I consider it an honor and a privilege to be working with Jonathan who is such a great talent now that this matter has been adjudicated.”

Majors was sentenced to participate in an intervention program after his conviction in December after a March 2023 altercation with his then-girlfriend Grace Jabarri; he had pleaded not guilty to four misdemeanor counts. The incident led to Majors being dropped from Marvel’s MCU and the shelving of his acclaimed movie Magazine Dreams before its release.

Tuffin will produce Merciless alongside Kevin Townsend and Kevin DeWalt, along with executive producers Amanda Delaplaine, Chris Ochs, Andrew Bates and Ben DeWalt.

Majors is repped by WME. Villeneuve is repped by Gersh and The Characters Talent Agency.

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