Jonathan Majors’ new action movie, backed by Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire and Dallas Sonnier’s Bonfire Legends, has come under scrutiny following an on-set accident and a staff strike.
On Friday, Deadline obtained footage of Majors and co-star JC Kilcoyne accidentally falling out of a window during filming. In the clip, the two actors stumble backwards into the glass before falling out of the frame. When the crew rushed to check on the ship’s safety, two people could be heard declaring, “It’s okay.” A voice that appears to be Major asks if the production was taking action. “Did we shoot you?” the man asks. “Please use it.”
A source told Deadline that the accident occurred “after the window was replaced with unsafe tempered glass to intentionally shatter during a later stunt that did not involve the actors,” causing the actors and the pane of glass to fall approximately six feet. The same source revealed that Kilcoyne needed stitches on his hand.
A representative for Kilcoyne told Variety that Kilcoyne was “doing well and the producers responded quickly.” Although Kilcoyne has finished filming the film, his team states that he “never felt unsafe on set and continued to work on the project and have a positive experience.”
Representatives for the majors did not respond to requests for comment. In addition to starring in the film, Majors also serves as executive producer under his Toll Street Productions.
“The actors’ downfall was shorter than the failed film careers of union representatives today,” Sonnier told Variety in response to a request for comment about the accident and production negotiations with production staff who walked off the set in South Carolina.
On March 26, IATSE called for a strike against the production company after staff members quit their jobs due to a series of labor issues during the filming of the film, tentatively titled “Knuckles.” According to a report from Deadline, an accident on set was the final decision for many of the crew to pursue an indie project.
“Producers are actively searching for replacement staff,” IATSE shared in a social media post. “All IATSE members are advised not to cross the picket line.”
Despite the strike, filming is said to continue to some extent. Variety has reached out to the union for additional comment on the status of the strike.
The film will be written and directed by Kyle Rankin, who reunited with The Daily Wire and Bonfire Legends for the first time since the 2020 action film Run Hide Fight. The film, starring Isabel May and Thomas Jane, premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Details of the untitled action movie are being kept mostly under wraps, but an early logline teased the plot: “When a threat strikes the heart of our nation, America’s warriors rise with indomitable grit and unrelenting firepower to protect what makes this country worth fighting for.”
The project will be without a major star after his breakout career, with standout roles in Creed III, Lovecraft Country, Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp, and the Loki series, stalled after a 2023 domestic assault conviction. Following the controversy, the actor was fired from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and lost major roles in films, including a pseudo-biographical film in which he played basketball legend Dennis Rodman.
In recent months, Majors has made a comeback, returning to theaters with Magazine Dreams, a tense bodybuilding drama that received rave reviews in its Sundance debut. He is also set to appear in Martin Villeneuve’s thriller film Merciless.
