save us, Matt Johnson, from Canadian pop culture extinction
From Blackberry to a Bourdain biopic, a billion dollar franchise, and a bizarre SXSW hit, Johnson's next career moves are the Hollywood sledgehammer Canadian Gen Z has been waiting for
You know that moment in DUNE: Part 2 when Timothée Chalamet rides the sandworm, and everyone is convinced he is the prophet they’ve been waiting for?
Well, not to be dramatic, but with this month’s slate of announcements, Matt Johnson is quickly becoming this prolific figure to Canadian pop culture.
Every cool kid in Hollywood is banging on Johnson’s door — A24 has scooped him for their Anthony Bourdain biopic, Hasbro is eyeing him for their billion dollar gaming franchise, and NEON is joining Canadian distributor Elevation Pictures to bring his bizarre* SXSW smash-hit to North America — but more on this later.
*bizarre in premise, but in terms of its success at SXSW, totally unsurprising.
Hollywood naming Johnson their cool new Kid in the Hall could be what connects Gen Z back to Canadian pop culture — a problem that that Johnson understands profoundly:
“We live in the best country in the world, we just have a marketing problem (…) My b-plot is basically trying to get young people to believe that they can make interesting movies in this country and they don’t need to leave, because I think that worse than all the national problems we have, the funding problems, our own insecurity about our identity, worse than all of that is the major marker of success for any artist — musician, filmmaker, whatever — is to leave. So long that that remains the number one goal of every young person who wants to make it, we’re never going to be able to cobble together a meaningful creative identity in this country.”
From Matt’s interview on Q with Tom Power, which I highly recommend watching!
Between his vision and upcoming slate of work, Johnson isn’t just opening doors for Canadian Gen Z filmmakers: he’s taking a sledgehammer to the expectations and system boxing Canadians in.
Time to get excited: here’s a look at what’s happening.
Breaking Today: Dominic Sessa and Antonio Banderas Starring in Johnson’s Tony for A24
Announced today: Dominic Sessa and Antonio Banderas will co-star in Tony, the Anthony Bourdain movie that Matt Johnson is set to direct for A24. This is a major level-up for Sessa, taking on the title role of Bourdain set in 1976: a summer in Provincetown that would forever change his life.
It’s giving Chalamet-Bob-Dylan-biopic levels of absolutely give it to me now. It’s the perfect actor-role fit that festivals, awards circuit, and press devour for breakfast — but this time, they’ll be brunching over Canadian bacon and maple syrup, because with Johnson at the helm there will be no separating this story from his signature Canadian wit, weirdness, and wow factor.
The cherry on top? After the stunning character work in Blackberry, there’s no doubt that no one does inspired by real life like Johnson. But there’s also no limit to what his powers could achieve when combined with Academy Award winner Banderas and new Hollywood darling Sessa. How soon can I buy my ticket to see this??
Matt’s Movie Magic meets Billion-Dollar Magic: The Gathering
If taking on one of the biggest personalities in modern media wasn’t enough, taking on one of the biggest IPs in gaming history might be the next trick up Johnson’s sleeve.
The long-awaited, highly-anticipated, totally inevitable but stuck in pre-production hell movie adaptation of Magic: The Gathering has new Northern wind in its sails: Deadline reported earlier this month that Hasbro and Legendary Entertainment are courting Johnson to take the helm as director.
There’s no screenplay to woo him — and studios have yet to confirm if a formal offer has actually be extended to Johnson — but it’s hard to imagine a better source material-director match (except maybe fellow Canadian Denis Villeneuve taking on DUNE).
As someone who is also covers game media empire Dimension 20 (whose producers also shared their talents in the development of 2023’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves), I am so excited at the prospect of Johnson bringing this franchise to life and will be following developments like a hawk.
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie Crushed at SXSW
To say Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie crushed at SXSW might be the understatement of the year. As an OG viewer of the two-season series that ran from 2017-2018, my FOMO was out of control — but was immediately replaced by relief that NEON picked up the film for distribution alongside Canadian partner Elevation Pictures.
I’m not one to gatekeep — but I will say: the volume of American TikTokers attempting to cover this premiere without a shred of knowledge of the original series… sigh. One Google search will bring you to episodes to binge, for free! Consider it homework and thank me later — we can deep dive on the nuances of the show and it’s impact on Canadian comedy another day on the podcast.
Pro-tip: Johnson has said the Mrs. Doubtfire inspired episode (Season 2 Episode 3) is one of his favourite things he has shot in his entire career.
These projects are cool — but what Johnson will do with them is even cooler
Part of the fun of covering Blackberry’s film festival and awards season run was watching Johnson charm the pants off of American press and studios.
But don’t get it twisted: Johnson didn’t deploy any new media training or personality charms to make the world fall in love with him. He simply became known outside of Canada for who he has always been to Canadian film.
Matt Johnson commits to Canada as hard as he commits to wearing headbands: that is to say, being Canadian is totally inseparable from his identity as a filmmaker.
I’ve seen it first-hand between covering Blackberry at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, and of course their big sweep at the Canadian Screen Awards:
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
There has never been a press tour, or I would argue a moment where Matt Johnson has access to a microphone, where he is not real as hell about being a Canadian filmmaker.
He’s totally transparent about the reality of funding structures and the odd loopholes Canadian filmmakers have to work with to make their art, at all.
He is constantly encouraging the next generation of Canadian creators to embrace their weirdness — and reminding them to hire good lawyers that will help them push the limits.
He understands the deep nuances of Canadian and French Canadian cinema, and uses his platform to push the door as wide open as it can open for more filmmakers to come up with him.
This is how Canadian pop culture sustains itself, folks.
Even if one of these projects turns into a box office smash hit, it won’t be able to touch that sledgehammer impact Johnson is already making in Canadian pop culture. The existence of these projects are proof points that Canadian pop culture exists, and you can be damn proud to love it and be part of it.
I’ll keep updates on these projects coming in my monthly pop culture wrap ups — but for now, go do your homework and catch up on Nirvanna.
I’ll see you on the pod later this week!
ProducerLiz
Thankyouthankyouthankyou for celebrating stories like this.