Ten-year-old Theo Clark Leber has officially landed the lead role opposite Dwayne Johnson in Lizard Music, director Benny Safdie’s next feature for Amazon MGM Studios and United Artists.
The news was first reported by Deadline, which revealed that Leber was selected following a casting search that lasted several months. The fourth-grade student from the Chicago area will make his feature film debut in the adaptation, marking the first major screen role of his young career.
Based on Daniel Pinkwater’s 1976 novel of the same name, Lizard Music blends live action with CGI. The story follows a young boy, played by Leber, who is left on his own and stumbles upon a mysterious late-night television broadcast featuring lizards performing strange, otherworldly music. What begins as a curious discovery soon leads him into a hidden world unlike anything he has ever imagined.
Along the way, the boy meets an eccentric old man known as The Chicken Man, played by Dwayne Johnson. Joined by Claudia, the man’s 111-year-old chicken companion, the trio embarks on an adventure through extraordinary worlds while exploring themes of friendship, imagination, and hope.
Although Lizard Music marks Leber’s feature film debut, he already has stage experience. He most recently appeared in a production of Leopoldstadt at Writers Theatre in Glencoe, Illinois.
Lizard Music also reunites Benny Safdie and Dwayne Johnson following their collaboration on The Smashing Machine, the biographical drama based on the life of MMA fighter Mark Kerr. The performance earned Johnson a Golden Globe nomination and marked one of the most dramatic turns of his career.
Safdie has written the screenplay in addition to directing the film, continuing his move into larger studio productions while maintaining his focus on distinctive, character-driven storytelling.
For Johnson, Lizard Music continues a diverse run of projects. He most recently returned as Maui in Disney’s live-action Moana and will next appear in Jumanji: Open World alongside Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas, Danny DeVito, and Awkwafina.
The film is being produced by Scott Stuber and Nick Nesbitt for United Artists, Benny Safdie through Out for the Count Productions, Dwayne Johnson through Seven Bucks Productions, and David Koplan for Magnetic Fields Entertainment. Amazon MGM Studios is backing the project under the United Artists banner after acquiring it last year. A release date has not yet been announced.
With an acclaimed children’s novel as its source material, Benny Safdie behind the camera, and Dwayne Johnson leading the cast alongside newcomer Theo Clark Leber, Lizard Music is shaping up to be one of Amazon MGM’s most intriguing upcoming productions. While a release date remains under wraps, the project has assembled an impressive creative team and continues to generate anticipation following its latest casting announcement.
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