The Jonathan Majors comeback attempt is about to get very controversial. And not for the reasons you’d think.
Page Six Hollywood has the details on his new film for Ben Shapiro’s The Daily Wire — a project that managed to get through casting and production without divulging any plot details. It’s safe to say that it will make liberal heads explode.
In fact, the $5 million action thriller, which shot in South Carolina under the vague name “Knuckle” and wrapped production in April, sounded a lot like every Gerard Butler movie based on its innocuous IMDbpro description: “American warriors rise with unbreakable grit and unrelenting firepower to defend the homeland when threats strike at its heart.”
The actual title is “Run Hide Fight: Infidels,” marking a second outing in the fledgling franchise. And if you think said “infidels” are the cheating types, think again. We can reveal the real logline, and it’s certain to spark conversation… and backlash: “When radical Islamic terrorists hijack a liberal college’s pro-Palestine encampment to enforce barbaric Sharia law on students and execute infidels in a makeshift caliphate, a ragtag band of red-blooded students, a security guard tired of ‘Uncle Tom’ smears, and a Delta Force vet must arm up to save their clueless peers and keep America from surrendering to the enemy on its own soil.” (Majors plays the Delta Force vet.)
The film’s trailer (you can watch it here) — obtained exclusively by Page Six Hollywood — will most definitely provoke strong reactions amid the current culture wars and heated divisions within the left and right over Israel-Gaza and the Iran conflict.
It begins with a rapid-fire montage of terror footage, from a 9/11 jet piercing the World Trade Center to an ISIS beheading, as well as college campus unrest and footage of Secretary of State Marco Rubio(!). It ends on the quad of a sleepy Virginia campus as the call to prayer rings out and an ISIS flag billows atop a pole. The students (terrorists?) stop what they’re doing, drop a prayer mat and orient themselves toward Mecca. The trailer cuts to the tagline: “Coming soon… Or already here.” We’re guessing this is a dry campus.
So, we called Dallas Sonnier, the film’s producer, to provide some additional context, in case we were looking at a counterfeit Milius.
“Both Daily Wire and Bonfire Legend have a history of movies that nobody else could make, nobody else could release,” he says of his production company. “We all worship at the altar of John Milius and ‘Red Dawn.’ And Eastwood, and all the other wonderful action stars of the ’80s, Stallone and Schwarzenegger. Nobody’s making these types of movies anymore.”
Sonnier insists that Majors will be doing press for the film.
“He loved the script, loved shooting the movie, is so great in the film, and he is totally 1,000% behind it,” he says of the former heir apparent to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. (Majors’ career was derailed thanks to a highly publicized domestic violence case in 2023 when the star was found guilty of assaulting his then-girlfriend.)
The Kyle Rankin-directed feature will launch on The Daily Wire platform in the fall. There’s a zero-percent chance “Infidels” will make its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, like its predecessor “Run Hide Fight” did in 2020. After all, the festival has become a major flashpoint over Israel and Gaza, drawing massive demonstrations in recent years. Venice continues to face intense pressure from pro-Palestinian voices in the film community to take a public stance on the conflict.
Sonnier said: “The woke mind virus has captured Hollywood for the past 12 years, and while woke is winding down, there is a new obsession with the anti-Israel, pro-Palestine movement that deserves to be mocked in a movie again.” The producer added: “If you’re afraid to put radical jihadis as your villains, then you’re a wimpy movie producer. We don’t have that fear.”
Surprisingly, Hollywood agencies like WME, which reps Majors, eagerly engaged during casting, with few exceptions. One unnamed actor was allegedly dropped by his agents at Buchwald when he wouldn’t take their advice and steer clear of the movie. Then again, by Sonnier’s own admission, “Infidels” is really pushing the envelope.
“The movie itself goes so much further than this teaser in terms of the insanity, and a lot of people will say, ‘I can’t believe you guys did that… I can’t believe this exists.’ And that’s the beauty [of] being unencumbered by the system that most Hollywood producers have to work in, and the benefit of what we’ve built over here.”
Although the film’s script and logline never leaked, there was some negative press coverage after some crew members reportedly walked off set claiming unsafe conditions following a scene in which Majors and co-star JC Kilcoyne fell through a window.
“Every safety measure was put in place, but actors get in the moment. In fact, Jonathan stood up right away and said, ‘Did we get the take?’ And that take is in the movie. Of course I’m putting it in the movie. The other actor in the scene had some cuts on his hand, went to the doctor that night, got all fixed up, and was right back at it.”
The walkouts, he says, were locals who tried unsuccessfully to flip “Infidels” to a union production.
As for the inevitable detractors, Sonnier is ready for them. “We live in the great country of America, where freedom of speech is protected and our artistic endeavor is not subject to the woke ideologies of the left,” he says. “And we will never let socialism or radical Islam ever take over our country.”
And even if Majors is semi-banished from Hollywood, The Daily Wire will continue to roll out the welcome mat.
“He’s a guy who comes in with full preparation, almost to the Marlon Brando, Joaquin Phoenix level. He is so dialed in, and he asks all the right questions,” Sonnier says. “And he was so generous with his time. He took the younger cast out to dinner, and took them to the gym, and really worked with them and was such a wonderful big brother to them on set. He’s a total movie star. The camera just locks in on him and cannot look away. What an honor to be able to work with such an amazing actor.”