Dave Franco and O’Shea Jackson Jr. lead road movie gone wrong, bringing comedy to Sundance

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Sundance movies might have a reputation for leaning into serious dramas, but this year the independent film festival has a slew of comedies on the slate, from quirky documentaries to more raucous fare.

One of the latter comes from filmmaker Macon Blair, a Sundance veteran and grand jury prize winner for “I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore,” whose new movie might best be described as a road movie gone wrong.

Dave Franco and O’Shea Jackson Jr. play two down on their luck guys and general screwups who are hired to transport a troubled teen (Mason Thames) to a treatment facility in “The S---heads,” which had its world premiere in Park City, Utah Friday night. It’s one of the films looking for distribution at the indie film festival.

Blair and Alex Orr started working on the script over 10 years ago. It almost got made in 2017, but financing fell apart when they were in pre-production.

“Over time it got a little darker, a little seedier, a little angrier. It’s still a comedy, it’s still meant to be fun and breezy and a good time,” Blair said. “But there was a current of something that became a little more pronounced.”

When they decided to try again, Franco was the one who helped get it across the finish line, joining as a producer, finding the money and suggesting Jackson and Thames for their roles. Blair loved watching Franco work, in particular.

“Every single thing he does, you’re like, ‘Oh that could go in the movie,’” Blair said. “He’s so prepared, so dialed in. It was impressive to watch.”

The film also features surprising supporting performances by Kiernan Shipka and Peter Dinklage, who Blair became friends with after getting a beer at Sundance not too long ago. His hope is to find a distributor who might be open to a theatrical release, citing a movie like “Friendship " as an example of a more unconventional movie that audiences turned out for.

“I hope someone gets the vibe of the movie on its own terms,” Blair said. “You don’t name a movie this because you want it to be a Merchant Ivory thing. But there’s other things in it. I think about O’Shea’s performance and how vulnerable he gets in this. I’m hoping people laugh, I’m hoping people have a good time. But I’m also hoping people see that he’s a great actor too.”

For more coverage of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/sundance-film-festival

Director Macon Blair attends the premiere of "The Shitheads" during the Sundance Film Festival on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, at Library Center Theatre in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Lee Eddy, from left, director Macon Blair, Kiernan Shipka, Dave Franco, O'Shea Jackson Jr., and Nicholas Braun attend the premiere of "The Shitheads" during the Sundance Film Festival on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, at Library Center Theatre in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Kiernan Shipka, left, and O'Shea Jackson Jr. attend the premiere of "The Shitheads" during the Sundance Film Festival on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, at Library Center Theatre in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

O'Shea Jackson Jr. attends the premiere of "The Shitheads" during the Sundance Film Festival on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, at Library Center Theatre in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Dave Franco attends the premiere of "The Shitheads" during the Sundance Film Festival on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, at Library Center Theatre in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A 51-year-old man who was shot Saturday by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis has died, a hospital record obtained by The Associated Press shows.

The person was shot amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said. The details surrounding the shooting weren’t immediately clear.

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told the AP in a text messages that the person had a firearm with two magazines and that the situation was “evolving.”

The shooting happened amid widespread daily protests in the Twin Cities since the Jan. 7 shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good, who was killed when an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fired into her vehicle. Saturday's shooting unfolded just over a mile away from where Good was shot.

Walz, a Democrat, said in a social media post that he had been in contact with the White House after the shooting. He urged President Donald Trump to end what the Department of Homeland Security has called its largest-ever immigration enforcement operation.

“Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now,” Walz said in a post on X.

DHS distributed a photo of a handgun they said was on the person who was shot.

After the shooting, an angry crowd gathered and screamed profanities at federal officers, calling them “cowards” and telling them to go home. One officer responded mockingly as he walked away, telling them: “Boo hoo.” Agents elsewhere shoved a yelling protester into a car.

The intersection where the shooting has been blocked off, and Border Patrol agents are on the scene wielding batons.

The shooting happened a day after thousands of demonstrators protesting the crackdown on immigrants crowded the city’s streets in frigid weather, calling for federal law enforcement to leave.

Associated Press writer Jim Mustian contributed from New York.

Federal agents stand near the site of a shooting Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Federal agents stand near the site of a shooting Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Federal agents stand near the site of a shooting Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Federal agents stand near the site of a shooting Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Federal agents stand near the site of a shooting Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Clergy members and community activists gather at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, to protest deportation flights and urge airlines to call for an end to the Department of Homeland Security's operation, on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)

Clergy members and community activists gather at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, to protest deportation flights and urge airlines to call for an end to the Department of Homeland Security's operation, on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)