Michael Madsen, the iconic Hollywood star who died July 3, 2025, ending a career filled with memorable action and crime thrillers like ‘Reservoir Dogs‘ and ‘Kill Bill,’ may have saved his most surprising and revealing role for one of his last. In ‘Mr. Wonderful,’ an independent feature film shot last year, he played Brian Fenton, a college professor desperately trying to prop up a failing career, steer a wayward son away from drugs and personal ruin, and come to grips with his own mysterious father’s descent into dementia.
Watching Madsen on set in ‘Mr. Wonderful,’ writer/producer Daniel Blake Smith suggested that Madsen was tapping into his own troubled life—laced with alcoholism, chaotic marriages, and the loss of his 26-year-old son to suicide in 2022. “His own sister, actress Virginia Madsen,” Smith observed, “called him ‘thunder and velvet… mischief wrapped in tenderness.’ Well, nowhere was that emotional complexity more vividly on display than the vulnerable and deeply emotional work he put into the lead role in our film,” Smith said.
Director Mark David worked with Madsen as DP on several films before directing him in ‘Mr. Wonderful.’ “He was a really sweet guy,” David said, “warm, funny, and such a powerhouse on screen. I believed every word he said on camera. I wanted to make more movies with him.”
Executive Producer / Sales Consultant Scott Stoltz of SCS Studio Filmz acquired worldwide sales rights for ‘Mr. Wonderful’ in part because; he said he was taken by Madsen’s “stellar performance that pulls at your heart strings from beginning to the end.”
The film, now out to film festivals throughout the country, has just released its official trailer:
DETAILS:
DBS Films in association with Buffalo Speedway Film Co, Red Basket Films, and SCSSTUDIOFILMZ.
Director: Mark David
Writer: David Blake Smith, based on his novel Mr. Wonderful.
Starring: Michael Madsen (as Professor Brian Fenton) with Priscilla Barnes (as Claire, Robert Fenton’s wife), Robert Miano (as Robert Fenton), and Brittany Underwood (as Dawn). Additional cast: Kate Hodge (as Corinne, Brian Fenton’s wife), Bradley Stryker (as Jeff, Brian Fenton’s brother), Lew Temple (as Reverend–minister at grave side ceremony), Bobby Laenen (as Danny), Erik Fellows (as Calvin), and Casey Graf (as Pat, Brian Fenton’s dept. chair).
Producers: Pauline Jones, Mark David, and Daniel Blake Smith.
Executive Producers: Stuart Brent Smith, Nick Feild, George Bennett, Jeremy Fox, and Scott Stoltz.
Synopsis: Three generations. One family. Infinite struggles. MR. WONDERFUL tells the gripping story of three men bound by blood but divided by circumstance. A millennial desperately fleeing from a dangerous drug dealer. His father, a disillusioned professor fighting to salvage his career. And their patriarch, battling the cruel advance of senility. Each generation searches for purpose and meaning as their worlds collide in unexpected ways. This powerful drama which stars Michael Madsen in his final leading dramatic role, explores the complex bonds between fathers and sons, the weight of legacy, and the universal quest for redemption.
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/
Smith is repped by Malissa Young Management and Tara Sattler, Weintraub Tobin Chediak Coleman Grodin. David is repped by Ralph Berge at IAG and Charles Lago at DTLA Ent Group and Scott Stoltz by Chad Russo at Ramo Law and Joseph Lanius Law & Associates.
