Manny Jacinto, Ben Foster and Fiona Shaw to lead Western comedy The Stalemate
Manny Jacinto, Ben Foster and Fiona Shaw have been cast in director Nicholas Arioli's absurdist Western comedy 'The Stalemate'.
Manny Jacinto, Ben Foster and Fiona Shaw are to star in the absurdist Western comedy ‘The Stalemate’.
The 37-year-old actor will star opposite the ‘Hell or High Water’ star, 44, and the ‘Andor’ actress, 66, in director Nicholas Arioli’s upcoming movie, who is working from his own script.
‘The Stalemate’ - which is currently filming in Santa Fe, New Mexico - follows a robber (Jacinto) and a sheriff (Foster) who, stranded without bullets and miles from town, are forced to negotiate their way through a bizarre and endless standoff in the Old West.
Arioli told Deadline said: “I spent many years writing this completely absurd movie, and I’m honored to work with such an incredible team who are as excited as I am to bring it to life.
“‘The Stalemate’ is part wacky buddy comedy, part poignant Western elegy - and just straight up a ton of fun. We can’t wait to share it!”
The movie is to be produced by Molly Conners and Amanda Bower under the Phiphen banner, alongside Andrew Bosworth of Warden Shortbow, and Cari Tuna.
Meanwhile, Phiphen's Richard J. Berthy, Jane Sinisi, Linda L. Berthy, Wilson Rivas and Alex Spatt will serve as executive producers with Foster, Serkan Piantino, Emma Thorne, Annabel Teal, Christine Yi and Brian Nemes of Gold House, as well as Jimmy Price and Javier Gonzalez.
Conners teased the team knew ‘The Stalemate’ was “something special” when they first read Arioli’s script.
She said: “From the moment we read Nick’s script, we knew ‘The Stalemate’ was something special. It’s rare to find a story that’s this fearless, this funny, and this full of heart.
“We’re proud to be supporting Nick with such a strong voice - and thrilled to be making this ride of a movie in Santa Fe.”
Jacinto could most recently be seen in the Disney+ ‘Star Wars’ show ‘The Acolyte’, where he played Sith apprentice Qimir/The Stranger.
Reflecting on the series, Jacinto explained the team “wanted to take a risk” with ‘The Acolyte’, while retaining the more practical production elements used in the ‘Star Wars’ Original Trilogy.
Speaking at Star Wars Celebration earlier this month (19.04.25), Jacinto said: “We wanted to bring something different. We wanted to take a risk and bring it back to the Original Trilogy. We wanted to feel the props, we wanted to interact with the puppets. We wanted to get down and dirty with the choreography.
“I’m just so proud of it.”
Jacinto will next appear in ‘Freakier Friday’ - the sequel to the 2003 Disney comedy ‘Freaky Friday’ that will see the return of Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis’ Anna and Tess Coleman.
The actor previously said he feels honoured to be part of the “Lohan-aissance”.
Jacinto told Collider: “I mean, I never thought I'd be a part of the Lohan-aissance.
“She's having a whole revolution of itself, but I remember watching Lindsay as a kid, ‘The Parent Trap’, ‘Mean Girls’ and to be able to act opposite her was unreal.”
