The first red-band trailer for Idiots—starring Dave Franco and O'Shea Jackson Jr.—has dropped, previewing a volatile, no-rules road comedy that turns a simple job into full-blown mayhem.
The film, backed by IFC Films, is set to hit theaters on August 28.
Franco and Jackson play Mark and Davis, a pair of low-rent operators hired for what should be a simple job: escort a wealthy teen to rehab. That teen, Sheridan—played by Mason Thames—quickly turns the assignment into a full-blown liability.
The trailer leans into the unraveling, showing a job that goes from routine to dangerous as the trio spirals through a string of increasingly volatile situations.
The ensemble is rounded out by Kiernan Shipka, Nicholas Braun, and Peter Dinklage.
The film first surfaced at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival under a very different name: The Sh*theads. Director Macon Blair admitted he was locked into that original title early on. “I got attached to it and became unable to move away from it, so it just stuck,” he said to The Hollywood Reporter earlier this month.
Franco made it clear the team wasn’t eager to pivot. “We’ve been waiting for someone along the way to tell us that we can’t do it,” he said. “But now we’re here. It’s out there. You can’t change it now.”
The eventual shift to Idiots reflects a broader theatrical strategy, but the DNA of the original concept is still intact: two deeply unqualified people navigating a situation that keeps escalating beyond their control.
Blair, who also directed The Toxic Avenger remake, leans into his signature mix of absurdity and edge. Early reactions from Sundance pointed to a film that keeps escalating, blending reckless comedy with flashes of something more grounded beneath the chaos.
Idiots will open the 50th Atlanta Film Festival on April 23 before its nationwide release.
