Kid Cudi’s Teddy era will soon be upon us. In an extended message shared with fans on Tuesday, the X actor announced he’ll be directing his first feature film this year. In addition, Cudi wrote the Netflix offering titled Teddy—and will also star.
“If I could sum up what the movie is about in one sentence, id say this: It’s as if I took the song ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ and wrote a movie about it,” Cudi said. “I added a lot of my own personal struggles and experiences in it, so this film is very close to my heart. I know, that deep down, this movie will help people in the same ways my music has. Im continuing my mission.”
The comedy has a stacked team of producers behind it including Bron Studios and Cudi’s own Mad Solar, as well as the Harder They Fall trio of Jay-Z, Jeymes Samuel, and James Lassiter. According to Cudi, the story for Teddy first started coming together back in 2013 and ranges in tone from “trippy” to “sad.”
Cudi fans will recognize that the influential Man on the Moon artist was previously revealed to be working with Netflix on the animated series component of Entergalactic. In May of last year, it was announced that both the album and the series would arrive in 2022, with Cudi later explaining that “next level shit” takes time.
The past few years have been particularly generous toward Cudi fans, including those who were fortunate enough to catch a theatrical showing of Ti West’s aforementioned X for free this past weekend thanks to Cudi himself.
Also on the horizon for Cudi is Disney+’s sci-fi entry Crater and Brittany Snow’s September 17th, the latter of which will mark the directorial debut for Cudi’s fellow X star.
Direct and Star in Netflix’s
Kid Cudi is set to make his feature directorial debut with the new Netflix movie, “Teddy,” a project he’s also written and in which he’ll star.
The musician and actor (who goes by Scott Mescudi on camera) announced the news in a lengthy social media post Tuesday, revealing that he’d been working on the project since 2013.
“I always wanted to write my own movie, so I said fuck it and started doing it,” he wrote. “The road has been long, from it being a tv show for years to finally being a film. So it means so fuckin much to finally be able to bring it to the screen next year, and I cant wait for u all to meet Teddy, his friends, his family and take a walk in his world for a bit.”
He went on to explain the premise of the movie, teasing that if he could sum it up in one sentence that, “It’s as if I took the song ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ [his hit 2009 track] and wrote a movie about it. I added a lot of my own personal struggles and experiences in it, so this film is very close to my heart.”
Nicolas Cage Paid Off Debts With VOD Films, but He Stands by Every Role: ‘I Never Phoned It In’
He added: “I know, that deep down, this movie will help people in the same ways my music has. I’m continuing my mission. Now this is a comedy, but it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t sprinkle some real shit in there. It’s trippy, it’s fun, it’s sad, it’s life.”
The upcoming project is produced by “The Harder They Fall” filmmaker Jeymes Samuel, Shawn “Jay Z” Carter, James Lassiter, Mad Solar and Bron, Mescudi revealed, adding a “special shout out to the homie [Netflix VP of original film] Tendo Nagenda for seeing the vision!!”
The new movie marks Mescudi’s second team-up with Samuel, Carter, Lassiter and Nagenda after the hitmaker contributed the track “Guns Go Bang” for their Netflix Western earlier this year. The film’s music won awards from the African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) and nabbed nominations from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, among other the critics groups and guilds.
It also marks a continuation of his relationship with the streamer after Mescudi appeared onscreen in Netflix’s best picture contender “Don’t Look Up” from Adam McKay. He earned a SAG Award nomination alongside the movie’s star-studded ensemble and teamed up with Ariana Grande to pen the original song “Just Look Up” for the satire’s soundtrack. Both “Guns Go Bang” and “Don’t Look Up” won trophies from the society of composers and lyricists.
Netflix’s Strong Black Lead account replied to his Twitter announcement, writing, “So ready.”
Mescudi has a host of big-screen projects in the works; the actor and musician currently stars in “X,” the horror film from Ti West, which debuted earlier this month at SXSW and is now playing in theaters. To learn more about that role, watch the full interview above.
Kid Cudi Directing and Starring in New Netflix Movie
He described his feature film directorial debut: “It’s as if I took the song ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ and wrote a movie about it.”
Kid Cudi’s prolific film career continues with the announcement today that he’s been working on his directorial debut for a feature film called Teddy. The Netflix project will also star Cudi and will be co-produced by Jay-Z. “This is a story I started writing in 2013 because I always wanted to write my own movie, so I said fuck it and started doing it,” Cudi wrote. The statement continues:
The road has been long, from it being a tv show for years to finally being a film. So it means so fuckin much to finally be able to bring it to the screen next year, and I cant wait for u all to meet Teddy, his friends, his family and take a walk in his world for a bit. If I could sum up what the movie is about in one sentence, id say this: It’s as if I took the song ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ and wrote a movie about it. I added a lot of my own personal struggles and experiences in it, so this film is very close to my heart. I know, that deep down, this movie will help people in the same ways my music has. Im continuing my mission. Now this is a comedy, but It wouldn’t be me if I didn’t sprinkle some real shit in there. Its trippy, its fun, its sad, its life.
Cudi is set to star in Brittany Snow’s new feature film directorial debut, September 17th. Cudi and Snow also co-starred in A24’s new horror movie X. Cudi recently made two film appearances as fictionalized versions of himself: in Don’t Look Up and Bill & Ted Face the Music. There’s also a new documentary about him.
Nigo’s first album in 22 years is set to arrive on Friday (March 25) with I Know NIGO. The A Bathing Ape founder and Kenzo creative director’s album is a star-studded affair with guest appearances made by plenty of rap’s A-listers from Nigo’s Rolodex.
With singles such as the Pusha T-assisted “Hear Me Clearly, Lil Uzi Vert floating in the drill lane on “Heavy,” Kid Cudi’s “Want It Bad” and A$AP Rocky’s “Arya” already released, the rest of I Know NIGO will feature 11 tracks total with cameos from the late Pop Smoke, Clipse reunited, Pharrell, A$AP Ferg, Gunna and more.
Spotify’s RapCaviar hopped into the comment section with some information regarding the project, which allegedly features six beats courtesy of Pharrell behind the boards.
Nigo’s last album arrived with the indie rock album’s Ape Sounds in 2000. The project is set to be released on Steven Victor’s Victor Victor Records via a partnership with Republic Records.
“It was a nightmare, full-on,” Victor told Highsnobiety of putting the album together. “You’re dealing with artists on a half-dozen different labels and they’ve all got their own opinions. Then you’ve got logistics, clearing samples, getting the videos shot — we made sure to film them all in person with Nigo so that was an extra headache.
“I Know NIGO was my focus for the past 12 months. I wouldn’t trade the experience of making this for anything. I’ll always rather work on something that’s tough to make but turns out incredible rather than something that was easy and turned out okay.”
Kid Cudi Featured in Louis Vuitton’s New LV Volt Jewelry Campaign
Kid Cudi, fresh off his role in Ti West’s new film X, is featured in a new jewelry-focused campaign from Louis Vuitton.
Indeed, the new LV Volt campaign sees Cudi—as well as fellow creatives Alicia Vikander and Jin Chen—bringing to life a range of pieces from the unisex collection.
As accessory enthusiasts will note, LV Volt’s assortment of graphic fine jewelry includes pendants, bracelets, earrings, and rings. Central to the look of each piece is the intertwining design of the LV initials, which are intentionally crafted in these pieces to provide the wearer with a metaphoric reminder of life’s inherent movement and energy.
Cudi was also recently announced to be part of the cast for his fellow X star Brittany Snow’s directorial debut, September 17th. Speaking with Variety this month, the Love Is Louder co-founder confirmed the casting for the film, the script for which was penned with Becca Gleason.
“I can’t really speak to it too much, except that Scott’s doing a part in the movie, so that’s cool,” Snow told the publication. Cudi, meanwhile, praised the film’s “really great script” and added that he had first heard of Snow’s directorial debut while shooting West’s X.