Sony Pictures will open Legendary Pictures’ The Machine on May 26.
The Peter Atencio directed movie takes place 23 years after the original story that inspired it. In the pic, comedian-star Bert Kreischer faces a familial crisis and the arrival of his estranged father (Mark Hamill) when the ghost of his booze-soaked past arrives: a murderous mobster (Iva Babić) hellbent on kidnapping Bert back to the motherland to atone for his crimes. Together, he and his father must retrace the steps of his younger self (Jimmy Tatro) in the midst of a war between a sociopathic crime family while they attempt to find common ground.
Kreischer will perform an exclusive live pre-show event at 6 p.m. May 25 in Los Angeles at a TBA theater location. The pre-show, which will be simulcast across 1,000+ theaters nationwide, will be followed by the first preview screening of the film. Tickets will go on sale at a later date.
Kevin Biegel and Scotty Landes wrote the screenplay based on Kreischer’s stand-up routine. The Machine is produced by Kreischer, Cale Boyter, Judi Marmel, Peter Atencio, and LeeAnn Kreischer. Jay Ashenfelter and Philip Waley serve as executive producers. The film also stars Robert Maaser, Stephanie Kurtzuba, Jessica Gabor, Rita Bernard Shaw, Nikola Đuričko, Oleg Taktarov, Amelie Villers, and Mercedes de la Cruz.
The Machine joins Disney’s The Little Mermaid and Lionsgate’s About My Father as this year’s Memorial Day wide releases.