Fans have been waiting a long time to see writer/director Macon Blair’s remake of the Troma cult classic The Toxic Avenger (watch it HERE), which wrapped filming way back in 2021 and unveiled a teaser trailer near the end of 2023, around the time it had its world premiere screening – but we won’t have to wait much longer. At the start of the year, it was announced that Cineverse had acquired the distribution rights with the intention of giving the film a wide unrated release, and they’re aiming for an August 29th theatrical release. In the build-up to that date, Toxie has become a spokesperson for the Liquid Death canned water company and has filmed a public service announcement that can be seen at LiquidDeath.com/ToxicAvenger, or at the bottom of this article.
Blair’s version of The Toxic Avenger centers on Winston Gooze, a stereotypical weakling who works as a janitor at Garb-X health club and is diagnosed with a terminal illness that can only be cured by an expensive treatment that his greedy, power hungry employer refuses to pay for. After deciding to take matters into his own hands and rob his company, Winston falls into a pit of toxic waste and is transformed into a deformed monster that sets out to do good and get back at all the people who have wronged him.
Peter Dinklage plays Winston Gooze and is joined in the cast by Kevin Bacon as villainous corporate overlord Bob Garbinger; Elijah Wood as Bob’s brother Fritz Garbinger, who is described as “sort of Riff Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the Danny DeVito Penguin mixed together”; Taylour Paige as investigative reporter / vigilante detective JJ Doherty; Jacob Tremblay as Winston’s stepson Wade; Jonny Coyne as a “shadowy criminal figure”; Sarah Niles as a “corrupt city official”; Julia Davis as an unspecified character; and Blair as a guy named Dennis.
Dinklage doesn’t physically play Toxie. Instead, Luisa Guerreiro, an actor and movement artist, provides the physical performance of Toxie underneath the makeup and costume. Dinklage does still provide the character’s voice after Winston becomes Toxie.
The Toxic Avenger remake was filmed in Bulgaria. Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz produced with Legendary Entertainment. JoBlo’s own Mike Conway recently had the chance to see the film and gave it an 8/10 review that can be read HERE. Conway said, “For fans of the original, for gorehounds, and for anyone who’s ever shouted ‘they don’t make movies like they used to’—look no further. This is the return of a cult icon in the most gloriously disgusting way possible.“
Are you looking forward to The Toxic Avenger remake? What do you think of Toxie becoming a Liquid Death spokesperson? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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