Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi has been telling us for years that music was never going to be enough. The man who built his legend on airing out depression and loneliness in 808-soaked anthems — before that was considered commercially viable — has always operated with one foot in a world that extends past the recording booth. Now, he’s officially stepped through the other door.
Kid Cudi is in production in Los Angeles on Doe, his feature directorial debut, where he plays the title role, starring alongside Mark Webber, Leah McNamara, Brandon Scott, and Brandon Perea. Cudi also wrote the screenplay. Doe explores themes of addiction and survival through the lens of a man living on the streets of Hollywood who, over the course of 24 hours, drifts through a series of encounters that pull him in and out of the cycles of his compulsion.
The subject matter is not incidental. Cudi has been publicly candid about his own battles with addiction and mental health — a fact that makes him the most credible possible author of this particular story. The choice to write, direct, and star in a film about a homeless man navigating addiction in Hollywood is not a departure from his artistic identity. It is a direct extension of it.
“Directing for me has been the ultimate dream of mine since I was a little boy,” Mescudi told Deadline. “I’ve always been fascinated with film, and I’ve been sharpening my sword for years waiting for this very moment. It’s truly been the best experience filming this movie and I can’t wait for the world to see a true work of passion and love, made with friends.”
That’s not a press quote. That’s a mission statement.
The film is being produced under his Mad Solar banner alongside Karina Manashil, with Mark Webber, Anthony Baldino, and Ryan Lacen also producing. Mad Solar, which Cudi founded in 2020, has quietly become one of the more credible artist-run production companies operating right now. Its credits include the Emmy-winning Netflix special Entergalactic, which Cudi co-created with Kenya Barris; the A24 horror franchise starting with Ti West’s X; and the Amazon documentary A Man Named Scott. Mad Solar recently also wrapped on God Backwards, directed by Adam Mortimer, in which Mescudi stars opposite Jessica Rothe.
This is a production company with genuine filmmaker relationships, a defined aesthetic sensibility, and a track record of projects that get critical attention — not a vanity imprint stamping a rapper’s name on other people’s work.
The cast assembled for Doe signals ambition, not stunt casting. Brandon Perea (Nope), Brandon Scott (Dead to Me), and Leah McNamara (Normal People) are working actors with serious dramatic credits. Cudi is also writing original songs for the film.
Doe is expected to reach theaters sometime in early 2027.
Cudi’s trajectory as a filmmaker represents something worth paying close attention to. The most commercially durable artists of the next decade won’t just be musicians who act in other people’s films. They’ll be creative executives who control their own IP, tell their own stories through their own production infrastructure, and use their brand equity to greenlight projects that a traditional studio system might never touch.
Kid Cudi figured that out a while ago. Doe is just the latest proof.
