Hollywood’s cancel-culture gatekeepers just got a direct challenge as Jonathan Majors launches his comeback through Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire—not the studios that tossed him aside.
Majors Returns on a Set Far From Hollywood
Jonathan Majors is back to work, with production underway in South Carolina on an untitled action film backed by Ben Shapiro’s The Daily Wire and producer Dallas Sonnier’s Bonfire Legend. Multiple outlets reported the shoot in late February 2026, marking Majors’ most significant on-set role since his legal troubles derailed a fast-rising career. The film is being positioned as a mainstream-style genre project rather than a prestige drama, with Majors also serving as an executive producer.
Majors’ public career rupture followed a March 2023 arrest stemming from an altercation with ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari. In December 2023, he was convicted of misdemeanor reckless assault and harassment. After that verdict, mainstream industry partners moved quickly: Marvel Studios dropped him, and his representation and other attachments reportedly evaporated. He avoided jail time, but his professional options narrowed sharply, leaving him largely outside major studio pipelines for an extended stretch.
The Daily Wire’s Entertainment Strategy Comes Into Focus
The Daily Wire’s involvement is not a random one-off; it fits the company’s broader push to build an entertainment arm that competes with legacy studios and their cultural assumptions. The outlet has funded and distributed films aimed at a conservative audience, and it has shown a willingness to work with talent that traditional Hollywood brands view as radioactive. In this case, the business logic is straightforward: a known actor brings attention, while the platform gains a headline project to drive subscriptions and visibility.
Ben Shapiro amplified the production with social-media promotion, teasing the movie with hyperbolic phrasing and signaling that Daily Wire wants this project to feel like an event for its base. Reporting also ties the film to Kyle Rankin, who previously wrote Run Hide Fight, a title associated with The Daily Wire’s early film efforts. The project’s described vibe—throwback action in the spirit of Red Dawn and Toy Soldiers—suggests an intentional pivot toward muscular, patriotic-era genre storytelling rather than modern, message-heavy studio formulas.
Producers Bet on a Throwback Genre Play—and a Different Audience
Dallas Sonnier’s Bonfire Legend co-producing adds another layer: it’s an indie-minded partner with experience packaging movies outside the traditional studio conveyor belt. Reports note precedent for casting controversial figures in other productions, which signals a willingness to separate bankability from elite approval. Filming in South Carolina, rather than California, also points to a lower-profile, potentially lower-cost production footprint—one that can reduce dependence on Hollywood’s infrastructure and political ecosystem.
What’s Known—and What’s Still Unclear About Release Plans
Key details remain unresolved, especially how the movie will be distributed. Some reporting highlights uncertainty over whether it will land primarily on The Daily Wire’s streaming service, pursue a theatrical run, or attempt a hybrid approach. That matters because distribution determines whether this becomes a niche platform draw or a broader cultural confrontation with legacy entertainment brands. With only limited confirmed information beyond production status, the safest conclusion is that the team is still building the rollout strategy while cameras are rolling.
Disgraced Marvel star Jonathan Majors set to make comeback in CONSERVATIVE movie https://t.co/VzPDw3aB16
— Daily Mail US (@Daily_MailUS) February 27, 2026
The larger takeaway is less about celebrity gossip and more about institutional power. A major actor who was discarded after a misdemeanor conviction is now working through a conservative-backed studio alternative that openly markets itself as counter-Hollywood. For viewers tired of political lectures, corporate fear, and ideological conformity in entertainment, the project is a live test: can alternative media finance and distribute star-driven films at scale, or will it stay a niche lane? The answer will show up at release.
Sources:
Culture Wire: Jonathan Majors’ film comeback, Daily Wire
Jonathan Majors is doing a new movie with The Daily Wire
Jonathan Majors is filming an action movie produced by The Daily Wire
Jonathan Majors teaming with Ben Shapiro
