Top comic Tom Segura has for weeks been teasing a new film project on his podcasts — and now, we know what it is. He’s found his first feature starring vehicle in El Tigre, an R-rated comedy to be helmed by emerging director Tyler Cornack (Mermaid) from a script by Aaron Buchsbaum and Teddy Riley.
The news comes as Segura kicks his work in film and television into high gear. Just a week ago, Netflix ordered a second season of Bad Thoughts, his new series for the streamer, where he places a lens on his some of his most dark and twisted cinematic fantasies.
Entering production in New Mexico this summer, El Tigre follows Jeff (Segura) and his friends as they head down to Mexico, only to discover the hard way that Jeff is a dead ringer for the infamous cartel leader El Tigre who’s gone missing. After being captured by rivals and then rescued by El Tigre’s forces, Jeff has to pretend to be their ruthless leader until he can find his friends and a way home.
“From the moment I read this script, I knew I had to play this part,” Segura said. “As a fellow business owner, I’ve always found it inspiring how productive and efficient cartel leaders can be. This whole team is so excited to make a great comedy, and I’m so thrilled to be a part of it.”
Greenlighted for production by Double Down Pictures, the production company led by Will Meldman in partnership with his real estate mogul father, Mike Meldman. Mosaic, founded by Jimmy Miller, is producing alongside Segura and his YMH Studios partner Ryan P. Hall, Will Meldman and Eddie Glaeser for Double Down Pictures, as well as M. Riley and Molly Mandel for Mosaic. Segura came to partner with Cornack here after being wowed by his work on Mermaid, a critically acclaimed comedic thriller starring his friend and fellow comic Johnny Pemberton, which Utopia acquired on the heels of its SXSW world premiere.
In his own statement to Deadline, producer Will Meldman said: “We’re excited to support Tom’s first feature film because audiences are hungry for the R-rated comedies of the 90s-2000s that aren’t getting made by the studios anymore. This nod to Kevin Kline’s Dave and Pacino’s Scarface feels like the perfect twisted marriage, and with Tyler’s fresh directorial vision combined with Tom’s proven comedic appeal, we knew this was exactly the kind of project we wanted to back.”
On Bad Thoughts, which premiered in May, Segura transforms into a whole assortment of characters, both real and fictional — among them, actor and martial artist Steven Seagal, secretive operative Agent Six, and country music superstar-turned-kidnapper Rex Henley. He created the series, setting it up at Netflix after self-financing a pilot and also serves as its writer, director and exec producer. As an actor, Segura also has been seen in series like Workholics and The Cabin with Bert Kreischer, along with films like Instant Family, where he starred opposite Mark Wahlberg. To date, he’s released five comedy specials — all at Netflix — having most recently unveiled Tom Segura: Sledgehammer in July 2023.
