‘Toxic Avenger’ Remake to Finally Release at the End of the Year!!

The Toxic Avenger is finally crawling from the muck and shambling into theaters. Macon Blair‘s long-in-limbo reboot of the classic Troma horror comedy has been searching for a distributor, and has finally found one in the form of Cineverse. Variety reports that the film will debut in theaters in wide release later this year.

The film premiered at Fantastic Fest in 2023 to rave reviews (it currently holds a 92% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes), but did not find a distributor. In an interview with Collider‘s Steve Weintraub last year, star Peter Dinklage jokingly suggested that fans “write to your congressmen. I don’t know what you do in this situation.” In a statement, Blair was excited for the film to be seen on the big screen, stating “It’s so cool that folks will have the chance to see this in theaters, it’s a fun rowdy movie you wanna see with a crowd. Mutant hero smashes bad guys with a mop: perfect entertainment for the whole family! Our goal was always to preserve the heart and spirit of the original Toxie (which was seared into my brain at a very young age) and try to make something that Troma fans would dig and at the same time do something with the character that feels fresh.” The gory, violent, and goopy film will be released in an unrated form.

What Is ‘The Toxic Avenger’ About?

In a reimagining of the 1984 low-budget original, Dinklage plays Winston Gooze, a health club janitor who gets a terminal diagnosis. When his employer won’t pay for his treatment, he tries to rob him, but ends up in a vat of toxic waste instead. Transformed into a misshapen monstrosity, Gooze becomes the Toxic Avenger, and goes on a limb-ripping rampage of revenge to clean up the town. The film also stars Taylour Paige (Zola) as J.J. Doherty, an investigative reporter and detective; Jacob Tremblay (Room) as Winston’s stepson, Wade; Kevin Bacon (Footloose) as Bob Garbinger, a ruthless corporate tycoon; and Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings) as Fritz Garbinger, Bob’s brother and henchman. It will also star Sarah Niles (Ted Lasso), Julia Davis (A Very British Scandal), Johnny Coyne (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), and Blair himself.

The original 1984 film became an underground sensation and helped launch Troma Films as Lloyd Kaufman‘s empire of odes to bad taste. It also spawned two sequels and, despite the original film’s much-deserved R-rating, a Saturday-morning cartoon spin-off, Toxic Crusaders.

The Toxic Avenger will be released in theaters in 2025, although no precise release date has yet been announced. You can stream the original Toxic Avenger from 1984 on Prime Video.