.png)
5 hours ago
2 ARTICLE AD
EXCLUSIVE: Hulu has acquired exclusive U.S. rights to Let’s Start a Cult, an indie dark comedy co-written, executive produced by and starring top comic Stavros Halkias, slating it to premiere on February 4.
Directed by Ben Kitnick, the film follows an obnoxious loser who, having missed out on his cult’s long awaited ritual suicide, teams up with his bogus ex-messiah to rebuild their doomsday commune. Traveling together through middle America, the constantly-bickering duo induct a military wannabe, a mentally unstable mom, and a mysterious foreign hitchhiker into their cult… but will this family of outcasts fulfill their transcendent destiny, or decide this life might be worth living after all?
Released by Dark Sky Films in October, the film should see a major boost in viewership in its Hulu debut. Pic also features well-known comedians including Joe Pera, Tom Papa and Robert Kelly, as well as Ethan Suplee, Wes Haney, Daniel Simonsen, Scotty Nelson, Zuri Salahuddin, Eric Rahill, Katy Fullan and Phil Brooks.
Kitnick, Haney and Halkias penned the script. Greg Newman and RoseMary Prodonovich produced, with Halkias, Hamza Ali, Badie Ali, Haney and Kitnick serving as EPs. Nicola Goelzhaeuser and Giles Edwards were co-producers.
Emerging in the last few years as one of the most popular young comics working, Halkias is a Baltimore native whose latest special, Fat Rascal, is available on Netflix. He self-released his debut special, Live at the Lodge Room, in 2022 and has since then seen it rack up over seven million views on YouTube.
Halkias’ podcast Stavvy’s World debuted at #3 on the iTunes comedy charts and garnered hundreds of thousands of subscribers in its first year. Recently seen in Steven Soderbergh’s sci-fi web series Command Z and Shane Gillis’ Netflix comedy Tires, which is heading into its second season, the comic has Yorgos Lanthimos’ sci-fi comedy Bugonia coming up and recently announced his Dreamboat Tour, which has him perform all over the United States.
