Dwayne Johnson is spending his fall in Fayetteville. Lizard Music, the fantasy-adventure film that reunites Johnson with writer-director Benny Safdie, began principal photography at Trilith Studios on August 3, 2026. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, citing local crew union IATSE 479, filming is scheduled to run through October 14 — a full ten weeks of production in Georgia, with additional shooting reportedly planned for New York and Hawaii.
It’s a strange, charming project — and one of the biggest things filming in the state right now.
What the Film Is About
Lizard Music is based on the 1976 children’s novel of the same name by Daniel Pinkwater, a cult favorite that has been kicking around Hollywood development for well over a decade. The story follows a lonely 10-year-old boy, left to his own devices while his parents are away, who stumbles onto a mysterious late-night television broadcast of lizards playing otherworldly music. His search for answers leads him to an eccentric old man known only as the Chicken Man — and the Chicken Man’s best friend, a 111-year-old chicken named Claudia. What starts as a hunt for a hidden society becomes a much bigger journey through invisible worlds and unexpected friendships.
The film is a live-action/CGI hybrid, and early descriptions have compared it to a warped, Willy Wonka-style fantasy. Given Safdie’s track record, expect it to be considerably stranger than the average family film.
The Cast
Dwayne Johnson plays the Chicken Man — a 70-year-old man, which is not a role anyone would have guessed for The Rock a few years ago. Johnson reportedly told Safdie “I’m your Chicken Man” the moment the project was pitched to him, and he has lost a significant amount of weight for the part. The transformation involves roughly five hours of makeup and prosthetics work every day. This is the second collaboration between Johnson and Safdie following The Smashing Machine, the MMA drama that earned Johnson the strongest reviews of his career. Johnson is also producing. Georgia readers will know he’s no stranger to the state — Rampage filmed at what was then Blackhall Studios, and Black Adam shot at Trilith.
Theo Clark Leber plays the boy at the center of the story. Leber is a 10-year-old newcomer whose casting was announced by Deadline in July, and this is a genuine star-making opportunity — he carries the film opposite one of the most famous people on the planet.
Regina Hall plays a friend and co-worker of the Chicken Man. Hall is best known for the Scary Movie franchise, Girls Trip, and Support the Girls, and she has the rare ability to be very funny and quietly heartbreaking in the same scene — a useful skill for a film about lonely people finding each other.
Alicia Silverstone joins in an undisclosed role. Silverstone will forever be Cher Horowitz from Clueless, but she has been on a strong run lately, appearing in Yorgos Lanthimos’ Bugonia and Netflix’s A Merry Little Ex-Mas.
Tim Heidecker, also in an undisclosed role, is a comedian and actor best known for Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! and the long-running web series On Cinema. He appeared in Bridesmaids and, more recently, the Jordan Peele-produced horror film Him. His particular brand of deadpan absurdity feels tailor-made for a Safdie fantasy film.
Arya Parvathi, another newcomer, was the final addition to the cast in late July. Her role has not been revealed.
The Creative Team
Benny Safdie writes and directs. Safdie made his name alongside his brother Josh with Good Time and Uncut Gems, then went solo with The Smashing Machine and co-created the Showtime series The Curse with Nathan Fielder. He’s also a working actor — you may remember him as Edward Teller in Oppenheimer. A family fantasy is new territory for him, which is exactly what makes this interesting.
Johnson produces alongside Scott Stuber, Nick Nesbitt, and David Koplan. Maceo Bishop is the cinematographer. Amazon MGM Studios acquired the project in October 2025 and is releasing it under the revived United Artists label.
Where It's Filming in Georgia
Trilith Studios in Fayetteville is the home base, but the production has been getting out into the community. Background casting calls have gone out for scenes in Brooks, Georgia — a small town just south of Fayetteville — where the production filmed a Little League baseball game and sought families to fill the stands. A more recent call went out for a Downtown Atlanta shoot on August 20, seeking men and women to portray aquarium patrons. Other calls have referenced neighborhood, school, and family settings, which fits the small-town-kid premise of the story.
Want to Work as Background?
Rose Locke Casting is handling background casting for Lizard Music. Recent calls have offered $196 for a 12-hour day for general background and $210 for 12 hours for stand-ins, and the production has been looking for a wide range of types — families, kids to portray siblings, photo doubles, and specialty roles. With filming continuing through mid-October, there’s still time to get involved. Register on their website and watch their social media pages for new calls as they’re posted.
When Can We See It?
No release date has been announced. Given the heavy CGI work required for a film about musical lizards and a very old chicken, a late 2027 release is the most realistic expectation. We’ll keep you posted as production moves through Georgia this fall.
