Any other decade, Cooper Raiff would probably get his modestly budgeted projects greenlit by a studio. After all, Raiff’s first two films (“Shithouse” and “Cha Cha Real Smooth”) won top prizes at SXSW and Sundance, respectively. Raiff is just 27 years old.
Raiff’s next film was supposed to be “The Trashers,” starring Cooper Hoffman, David Harbour and Olivia DeJonge, that told the true story of a mob-run minor league hockey team filled with goons. The project was announced in 2021, and since then it’s been radio silence.
Raiff has given us an update, and it sounds like the entire project has been scrapped because he just couldn’t find the money to finance it. This has become the new normal for promising indie filmmakers this decade.
“I want it to happen, but I don’t think [it will],” Raiff tells Deadline. “I love that script so much, and I want to direct it so bad, but it’s hard to make a movie and hard to get to the support [required]. That movie’s a big movie and needs a big budget, and we didn’t get the money. So…it’s not happening.”
In 2022, “Cha Cha Real Smooth” won the audience prize at Sundance, and was quickly snapped up by Apple for a reported $15 million. To say the film was then dumped on streaming would be an understatement. It quietly landed on Apple TV+ and barely anyone noticed.
For the time being, Raiff has ventured into television with “Hal & Harper,” an independently produced family drama set up at Lionsgate TV via an output deal. The show, which has earned positive reviews, is currently still up for sale at the festival.
Netflix and Skydance Animation have also called it quits. The two sides announced Monday that they're ending the animated film deal struck back in 2023, framing it as a mutual decision.