Netflix’s anticipated Robert Pattinson-starring serial killer comedy Average Height, Average Build is no longer moving forward at the streamer. The movie, announced earlier this year, was set to feature a star-studded cast that included Pattinson, Amy Adams, and Robert Downey Jr., but the film has been scrapped following writer and director Adam McKay’s exit.
The news was confirmed Monday by Deadline, the outlet reporting that the shift is the result of McKay’s decision to step down from Average Height, Average Build to instead focus on a project about climate change. Details of the project remain unclear, but sources told Deadline that it is expected the project will get all of the writer and director’s attention, and “he will no longer be directing the Netflix movie Average Height, Average Build, and the film will no longer be moving forward.” The outlet added that with McKay no longer involved in the film, “there is no plan to find a replacement and move forward with the film.”
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“With the climate emergency having escalated a great deal, Adam McKay has decided to make his next directorial project a climate related one, so he will not be directing Average Height, Average Build,” a spokesperson for McKay confirmed in a statement to IGN.
McKay wrote the script for Average Height, Average Build and brought it to Netflix to direct. The streamer picked up the project back in April, bringing on Pattinson, Adams, Downey Jr., Forest Whitaker, and Danielle Deadwyler. Described as a serial killer comedy, the film starred Pattinson as a serial murderer who enlists a lobbyist (Adams) to change laws that will allow him to get away with murder more easily. Downey was set to play a retired cop obsessed with bringing the killer to justice, all while the killer attempts to prevent him from dogging his trail now that he’s hung up his gun. The killer’s quest turns him into a cause celebre.
The deal with Netflix for the film brought McKay back to the streamer, where he made his last film, 2021’s Don’t Look Up. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence as two astronomers trying to warn people about a comet that will destroy Earth, the movie was a critical success, becoming Netflix’s second most popular film of all time with over 360 million views in the first 28 days of its release. It was also nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture, winning Best Original Screenplay for McKay and David Sirota. Meanwhile, McKay earlier this year launched the nonprofit Yellow Dot Studios to make videos and other materials aimed at raising public understanding of the climate emergency and related issues.
