EXCLUSIVE: The Stunt Driver, the comedy starring Jay Baruchel (BlackBerry) as Canadian daredevil Ken Carter which we scooped in November 2024, has been acquired by Independent Film Company ahead of its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.

Independent Film Company releases the film in U.S. theaters on September 25. Watch the trailer above.

Written and directed by Michael Dowse, who previously collaborated with Baruchel on the cult hockey comedy Goon, The Stunt Driver is billed as telling the true underdog story of Carter, picking up with the world champion stunt driver in the mid-seventies as he battles personal demons and public doubt to attempt what everyone considers impossible — a mile-long jump across the St. Lawrence river in a rocket car.

Pic has Ben Foster (Hell or High Water) playing the iconic Evel Knievel. Laurence Leboeuf (Shoresy), Dan Bakkedahl (Veep) and Ed Helms (The Hangover) also star.

Dowse, who is otherwise known for work on titles like Trap House and the Amazon series The Sticky, told Deadline, “What captivated me wasn’t simply the spectacle of Ken Carter’s legendary jump, but the humanity behind it. He was a dreamer who refused to let the world define what was possible. I wanted to make a film that celebrates that spirit – the optimism, resilience, and relentless pursuit of an impossible dream. At its heart, The Stunt Driver is about the people who dare to risk everything.”

Ayo Kepher Maat, Vice President of Acquisitions and Productions at Independent Film Company, said: “We’re thrilled to collaborate with Michael Dowse to bring the incredible true story of stunt driver Ken Carter to the big screen. Jay Baruchel delivers an unforgettable performance, joined by a remarkable cast including Ed Helms and Ben Foster. We can’t wait to share this wildly entertaining and richly human film with US audiences this fall.”

The Stunt Driver is produced by Jennifer Wilson and Dowse for Film Cardinal, and executive produced by Baruchel, Joe Iacono, Dave Bishop and James Pugh for Protagonist Pictures, Lisa Wolofsky, Andrew Frank for Mongrel Media, and Cameron MacLaren. Maat negotiated the deal on behalf of Independent Film Company with UTA on behalf of the filmmakers.

ESPN is implementing layoffs tied to a deal it closed earlier this year with the NFL.

Chairman Jimmy Pitaro confirmed the cutbacks in a memo to employees Tuesday. (Read it below.) The reductions primarily involve behind-the-scenes production staffers, but a handful of on-air personalities are also leaving, including lead baseball play-by-play voice Karl Ravech and NFL analyst Ryan Clark.

The layoffs are part of broader cuts across Disney to be revealed over the course of the day Tuesday, a person familiar with the situation told Deadline. The source also said the ESPN cuts are nowhere near the scale of 2023 layoffs, which saw a number of recognizable on-air names depart amid a cost savings effort steered by former CEO Bob Iger.

Ravech had been at ESPN since 1993. Before taking the lead play-by-play spot, he established himself as a SportsCenter and Baseball Tonight anchor.

Clark, who played for 13 seasons in the NFL, joined ESPN in 2015. He was involved in an on-air dust-up with colleague Peter Schrager last year, later apologizing for criticizing Schrager’s “non-player” analysis of the Dallas Cowboys. According to reports in The Athletic and other outlets, Clark was notified during Monday’s episode of NFL Live that he was part of the layoffs. He did not appear on the remainder of the program.

The NFL and ESPN closed the transaction last February, with the league taking a 10% stake in ESPN in exchange for ESPN gaining control of media properties including the NFL Network. The deal valued ESPN at $30 billion, according to an SEC filing.

In order to eliminate duplication and achieve cost savings, many of the operations of ESPN and the NFL Network have been combined.

For the last few quarters, ESPN has been its own division within Disney. While the company continues to control a top-tier collection of rights and will broadcast its first Super Bowl next February along with broadcast sibling ABC, the economics of its business remain challenging. As rights costs continue to rise, the number of pay-TV subscribers is decreasing. ESPN responded to the cord-cutting trend a year ago by launching a new eponymous streaming service.

Here is Pitaro’s full memo:

Team:

Over the past several months, we’ve made significant progress integrating the NFL assets that we acquired into ESPN. Throughout this process, we have taken the time to carefully evaluate our collective teams, resources and organizational structure to best position us for the future. As a result, we had to make some difficult decisions about job impacts that we will be communicating today.

While most of the job impacts are tied to the acquisition, we will also notify colleagues in other parts of the company today that their positions have been impacted. We are committed to treating employees with compassion and respect and to providing support as they navigate this transition.

Even in moments like these, the strength of ESPN comes from our people, our teamwork and our shared mission to serve sports fans.

Jimmy