Deadline has announced that a European Film Market title has landed its first two stars. According to the report, Keke Palmer and Sacha Baron Cohen will lead the upcoming feature Super Toys. Set in the '70s, the duo will play a married couple who are toy sales reps on "a life-and-death mission to save themselves, their marriage and their live-wire 12-year-old daughter while on the road in Middle America."
David O. Russell will direct from his own screenplay. The announcement follows his most recent endeavor Amsterdam, which was released at the tail end of last year. Charles Roven of Atlas Entertainment and Matthew Budman of Dreamcrew Entertainment are producing Super Toys. FilmNation Entertainment is handling international sales, with CAA heading up U.S. distribution.
Palmer and Cohen have both had a big past few years within their careers. Recently, Palmer dominated the spotlight after starring in Jordan Peele's 2022 film Nope. In it, she played Emerald Haywood, who, along with her brother OJ (Daniel Kaluuya), set out to capture video footage of a mysterious alien terrorizing their small town. She lent her voice to animated projects including Pixar's Lightyear and the Netflix series Human Resources, which will return for Season 2. She also made her Saturday Night Live hosting debut in December 2022. Currently, she is developing a series titled Unfriendly Black Hotties for HBO Max.
Cohen's most recently released project was in 2021 with Pixar's Luca, in which he voiced Uncle Ugo. However, one of his most recognizable roles is Borat, and he returned to the character in 2020 with Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. The film was nominated for two Oscars: Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress (Maria Bakalova). He's currently rumored to appear in Marvel and Disney+'s Ironheart, and is in talks to join Apple TV+'s Disclaimer.
Russell's Amsterdam Was a Box Office Miss
Despite the star power already behind Super Toys, Russell has been in rocky territory considering the poor reception Amsterdam received — a movie that also had significant casting with stars like Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, and several others. The movie itself received mixed reviews that tended to skew negative, and during its run in theaters, it failed to reach its projected gross, with the project losing money rather than at least breaking even. Moreover, Russell's track record doesn't help matters. The filmmaker has a history of on-set abuse, with actors including Amy Adams and Lily Tomlin recalling his behavior, and his niece Nicole Peloquin alleging that Russell sexually assaulted her.
Super Toys currently has no projected release window.