Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi to Make His Directorial Debut with Netflix Movie ‘Teddy’
‘The Harder They Fall’ duo Jeymes Samuel and Jay-Z will produce the new movie.
Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi in Prime Video's documentary 'A Man Named Scott.'
He’s been appearing in front of the camera in addition to contributing to songs for soundtracks for a few years now, but Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi is ready to take the next step in movies: he’ll make his directorial debut.
In addition to calling the shots, Mescudi has written the new movie for Netflix, called ‘Teddy’, that he’ll also star in.
Writing on Twitter, the musician and actor explained the decision, revealing that he’s been working on the project for quite a while now, dealing with the usual frustration of guiding something through development since at least 2013.
“I always wanted to write my own movie,” he wrote. “The road has been long, from it being a TV show for years to finally being a film. So it means so much to finally be able to bring it to the screen next year, and I can’t wait for you all to meet Teddy, his friends, his family and take a walk in his world for a bit.”
Though he didn’t completely reveal the storyline, he did offer a tease for the premise: “It’s as if I took the song ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ (his 2009 hit) 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.”
(L to R) Chris Abbott and Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi.
“I know, that deep down, this movie will help people in the same ways my music has,” he added. “I’m continuing my mission. Now this is a comedy, but it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t sprinkle some real stuff in there. It’s trippy, it’s fun, it’s sad, it’s life.”
From the sounds of it, it’ll be a slice-of-life story for a character much like the singer himself, and it’ll be fascinating to see what he applies from his past movie career to this latest job. Mescudi has also directed some of his music videos, including for ‘Surfin’ and ‘Frequency.’
‘The Harder They Fall’ filmmaker Jeymes Samuel,Shawn “Jay Z” Carter (who also produced ‘Fall’), James Lassiter, and company Bron will all produce the movie, which continues Mescudi’s association with them. He wrote the track ‘Guns Go Bang’ for ‘The Harder They Fall’, which has won a variety of awards.
And he also solidifies his connection with Netflix after appearing in Adam McKay’s ‘Don’t Look Up’ as a character called DJ Chello, who sings the anthem ‘Just Look Up’ as a duet with Riley Bina (played by Ariana Grande). The pair also wrote the song together.
Acting-wise, Mescudi has appeared in movies including ‘Need for Speed’, ‘Bill & Ted Face the Music’ and ‘Crisis’. Coming up, he’s part of the cast for Ty West’s new horror, ‘X’, which hit theaters at the weekend. On TV, he’s voicing a role in mysterious new animated series ‘Entergalactic,’ which also happens to be a Netflix show.
(L to R): RJ Cyler, Jonathan Majors, Delroy Lindo, and Danielle Deadwyler in 'The Harder They Fall.' Photo courtesy of Netflix © 2021.
