The Stunt Driver is a 2026 Canadian historical comedy film written and directed by Michael Dowse, based on the life of Canadian daredevil stuntman Ken Carter. The cast is led by Jay Baruchel, Ed Helms, Ben Foster, Laurence Leboeuf, and Dan Bakkedahl.
Premise In the 1970s, stuntman Ken Carter, known as "The Mad Canadian" due to his daredevil stunts, plans to drive a rocket car across the Saint-Laurent river, from a 90-foot-high ramp.
Cast Jay Baruchel as Ken Carter Ed Helms as Dick Keller Ben Foster as Evel Knievel Laurence Leboeuf as Gloria Dan Bakkedahl as Bill Wilkins Joe Cobden as Bob Fortier Marc Beaupré as Danny Lafortune Jonathan Cherry as Ricky
Production The film is written and directed by Michael Dowse and is based on the true story of the "Mad Canadian" stunt driver who had fame with his daredevil stunts, and the National Film Board of Canada's 1981 documentary The Devil at Your Heels. It is produced by Dowse and Jennifer Wilson through Cardinal Films with Macdara Kelleher and Eoin Egan for Wild Atlantic Pictures.
The cast is led by Jay Baruchel. Ed Helms, Ben Foster, Laurence Leboeuf and Dan Bakkedahl, Joe Cobden and Marc Beaupré, joined the cast in October 2025.
Principal photography was underway in Montreal in September 2025. Filming locations included the St. Lawrence River between Boucherville and Varennes, Quebec in Canada, the following month.
Release The film premiered at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival,John Hazelton, "Chris Rock, Yeon Sang-ho, Peter Farrelly titles among Toronto film festival galas and special presentations". Screen Daily, July 20, 2026. and was theatrically released on September 25, 2026.
Reception On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 73% of 41 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.4/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 60 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.
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