Tiffany Haddish, James Franco & Christopher Meloni Join Psychedelic Comedy ‘Toad’: EFM

EXCLUSIVE: Tiffany Haddish (Girls Trip), James Franco (The Disaster Artist) and Chistopher Meloni (Snatched) are joining Katt Williams (Scary Movie V), Craig Robinson (Hot Tub Time Machine), James Paxton (Twisters) and Oliver Wyman (Feeling Randy) in Adam Rifkin’s psychedelic stoner comedy Toad.

Architect have launched worldwide sales on the eve of Berlin’s EFM. Pic is due to shoot in Q2, 2025 in Atlanta, USA.

James Paxton and Oliver Wyman play Sam and Alex, two hapless but lovable stoners, who accidentally find themselves in the service of crime lord, Charles (Robinson), when they are made to transport a mysterious box from LA to Vegas. Almost immediately, their childlike curiosity gets the better of them and upon opening the box, they find a bunch of live, psychedelic Sonoran “acid” toads. When the toads begin to overheat, the duo make an ill-advised attempt at mouth-to-mouth, thereby dosing themselves with extreme amounts of the toads’ psychedelic secretion.

What follows is a very trippy journey to Vegas, accompanied by the life-size, talking toad spirit-guide, “Earl” (Williams), and a host of colourful characters, including a dangerous biker gang, a sex cult, a chainsaw wielding maniac, and a deranged five star French chef, who all want the precious toad cargo for their own nefarious reasons.

Toad is the first movie to be produced under the Laugh Factory Presents banner, a feature film venture helmed by David Fuhrer, John Weiser and Laugh Factory founder Jamie Masada. Mark O’Sullivan at DLNQNT will serve as an executive producer.

The movie was co-written by Piers Ashworth and Rifkin and is produced by Brad Wyman (Monster) and Michael P.J. Gerstein of futureIII Entertainment Corporation, as well as producer Mike Kolko. Vincent J. Guastini (World War Z) is handling the SFX creature creation. Completing the in-camera creative term are Augenblick Studios.

Producer Brad Wyman said: “Adam Rifkin’s entire career has prepared him for directing Toad. It’s that offbeat, almost surreal type of comedy where the absurdity of the situations and characters escalate to ridiculous levels, making it impossible not to laugh out loud. Rifkin’s Toad is the antidote motion picture audiences are seeking right now.”

Director Rifkin commented: “I believe the producers and Laugh Factory have done an incredible job of securing top-notch talent that will really drive this story forward and make viewers belly laugh. I’m also delighted Architect will be representing this project worldwide. Truly, I couldn’t be more excited right now.”