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Kid Cudi (real name Scott Mescudi) is no stranger to the acting world, with some of his best-known performances in the HBO series How to Make It in America and the 2015 film Entourage. Cudi even earned executive producer credits with last year’s smash Malcolm & Marie. But the multitalented entertainer will soon add the title of “director” to his growing resume with the new Netflix movie, Teddy.
According to Cudi’s Twitter page, he’s been working on Teddy for nearly a decade and will star in the flick as well. “I always wanted to write my own movie, so I said f*** it and started doing it,” he posted Tuesday afternoon. “The road has been long, from it being a tv show for years to finally being a film. So it means so f***** 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.”
This will be Cudi’s second major project with Netflix; in July 2019, the streaming service announced the rapper and Kenya Barris (creator of the Black-ish franchise) were joining forces to produce an animated series called Entergalactic, titled after Cudi’s upcoming album of the same name.
Cudi was succinctly vague when it came to his synopsis of Teddy. “If I could sum up what the movie is about in one sentence, I’d say this: It’s as if I took the song ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ and wrote a movie about it,” he continued in the post. “I added a lot of my own personal struggles and experiences in it, so this film is very close to my heart.”
The film will be co-produced by Jeymes Samuel and Jay-Z, both of whom collaborated on the African American Film Critics Association’s choice as best film of 2021, The Harder They Fall. Cudi’s entertainment company Mad Solar will also share production duties on Teddy, alongside BRON Studios.
No timeframe was given for the movie’s release, but Cudi did say to expect it sometime in 2023. “I know, that deep down, this movie will help people in the same ways my music has,” he wrote. “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.”
