Glen Powell and Judd Apatow Are Hollywood’s New It Duo with ‘The Comeback King’
Glen Powell has already been set to have a big year on the big screen, from starring in A24’s How to Make a Killing, to early work on Season 2 of his hit Hulu series Chad Powers, to his surprise role as Star Fox and Super Smash Bros. protagonist Fox McCloud in last weekend’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, to the long-awaited film return of J.J. Abrams. And now, we have a new set of details surrounding Powell’s upcoming film with comedy director Judd Apatow.
On Monday, Universal officially announced that Powell and Apatow’s collaboration, which is in production now, will be called The Comeback King. The news was accompanied by a teaser poster of a man holding a belt buckle that brandishes the film’s logo. The Comeback King, which was first reported to be a thing in April of 2025, is directed by Apatow off of a script that he and Powell co-wrote together. The studio has already set a release date, with the film debuting exclusively in theaters worldwide on February 5, 2027.
Plot details are currently unknown about The Comeback King, other than that it is about a country western star in free fall. In addition to Powell, the cast of the film also includes Cristin Milioti (The Penguin, Palm Springs), Madelyn Cline (Outer Banks, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery), Stavros Halkias (Bugonia, Stavros Halkias: Fat Rascal) and Li Jin Hao.
Apatow, Powell, and Dan Cohen will produce the film, with Barry Mendel and Josh Church signed on as executive producers.
What Are Glen Powell’s Next Movies?
As mentioned above, Powell is set to have a major role in J.J. Abrams’ next movie, which is his first big-screen venture since 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Earlier this year, it was confirmed that the film is titled The Great Beyond, and will debut in theaters on November 13th. The cast of the film includes Powell, Jenna Ortega, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, Merritt Wever and Samuel L. Jackson. Plot details surrounding the film are currently being kept under wraps.
Powell has also been attached to other projects, including the erotic sci-fi thriller Homewreckers, the sci-fi thriller The Natural Order with Barry Jenkins, as well as a reboot of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
“I’ve been a fan of movies since I was able to open my eyes,” Powell explained in a 2025 interview with Forbes. “Everybody in the family loves entertainment and we are big consumers of it, but at the end of the day, I’m also feeling like I’m a student of this business. I really love it, inside and out. I’ve gotten to really put my mark on that. I feel like when you have sort of a moment of political capital, you can really change what’s being made.”
“I feel like as a fan of the movies, I know what I want to see in the theater,” Powell continued. “I’m really making sure that Barnstorm is practicing what it preaches in that way – giving people what they want to be seeing in theaters. So, that’s my goal at Barnstorm.”
As mentioned above, The Comeback King will be released exclusively in theaters on February 5, 2027.
(featured image: Universal Pictures)
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