Marvel Alums Sam Rockwell and Kumail Nanjiani Cast in New Comedy

Iron Man 2 baddie Sam Rockwell and Eternals star Kumail Nanjiani are teaming up for A Guy Walks Into a Bar, a new dark comedy from filmmaker Gary Fleder. According to Deadline, who first reported the deal, the project has an interim agreement in place from SAG-AFTRA, allowing them to begin principal photography by the end of 2023, even if the actors’ strike continues. The movie, from Venom and Jumanji: The Next Level writer Scott Rosenberg, is set to be filmed in New Jersey, where Kevin Smith also recently took advantage of a SAG waiver and made The 4:30 Movie. 

According to the Deadline report, the movie centers on “a mild-mannered new father (Nanjiani) befriends a charismatic yet mysterious man (Rockwell) at a bar, and soon suspects him of concealing a troubling secret.” Few other details are available. 

Fleder and Rosenberg previously collaborated on the dark comedy Things To Do In Denver When You’re Dead in 1995. The film, named after a Warren Zevon song and featuring a lead character named Jimmy the Saint (from Bruce Springsteen’s “Lost in the Flood”), struggled with critics and at the box office, drawing unfavorable comparisons to 1994’s Pulp Fiction, but earned a cult following on home video.

Nanjiani has been one of the most in-demand actors in Hollywood since The Big Sick, with recent roles like Welcome to Chippendales and upcoming parts in the next installments in the Insidious and Ghostbusters franchises. Rockwell, a critical darling since the early 2000s, will show up next in Matthew Vaughn’s Apple original Argylle, which will drop on February 2. His most recent part was in Searchlight’s See How They Run.

Fleder, Rosenberg, and Rockwell are also producing the film, along with Mark Fasano of Nickel City Pictures, Nadine de Barros of Fortitude International, and Jina Panebianco of Caliwood Pictures. Deadline reports that Nanjiani will executive produce alongside Erica Steinberg and Nickel City’s Matthew Goldberg. Caliwood’s R. Wesley Sierk, III and John D. Straley are also executive producing, as well as Joseph Panebianco. Fortitude International is set to handle international sales for the picture. No word yet on whether they will seek theatrical distribution or head straight to streaming in the US.