STUDIOCANAL, the company that clearly has too much money and not enough original ideas, has graced us with a brand-new trailer and poster for CALIFORNIA SCHEMIN’, which marks James McAvoy’s directorial debut. Because when you think of hip hop culture, you immediately think of a Scottish actor best known for playing a guy with 23 personalities and a faun in Narnia.
The film stars Séamus McLean Ross (Outlander: Blood of My Blood – yes, that’s a real thing apparently), Samuel Bottomley (How to Have Sex, Anemone – sounds like a very specific dating app), Lucy Halliday (Blue Jean, The Testaments – someone’s checking off their “be in something with a colour and religious text” bingo card), and Rebekah Murrell (Pirates, One Day – from swashbuckling to rom-coms, versatile!), alongside McAvoy himself, who presumably will be playing “Scottish guy who thinks he can direct.”
McAvoy and his cast will be returning to Scotland for the UK premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival on Sunday 8 March, because nothing says “authentic California hip hop” like premiering it in Glasgow. The film then releases in cinemas across the UK & Ireland on 10 April 2026, giving everyone plenty of time to forget they announced it.
Based on the improbably true story (translation: “we found this weird thing on Wikipedia and decided to make a movie about it”), the film follows aspiring Scottish MCs Gavin (Séamus McLean Ross) and Billy (Samuel Bottomley) as they devise an audacious scheme to achieve their dream of a record deal, by posing as Californian hip hop artists. Because apparently, nobody in the music industry can tell the difference between a Scottish accent and a Californian one. Groundbreaking stuff.
As fame beckons and the lies pile up, their friendship is put to the test. Will they make it? Will they be exposed? Will anyone actually care? Stay tuned to find out!
The trailer is available for your viewing pleasure, featuring what appears to be Scottish people saying “yo” a lot and wearing sunglasses indoors. Truly revolutionary cinema.
Written by Elaine Gracie and Archie Thomson (who I’m convinced are pseudonyms for “two people who drew names from a hat”), CALIFORNIA SCHEMIN’ is produced by Danny Page of Homefront Productions and Michael Mendelsohn of Patriot Pictures, alongside Paul Aniello of Tartan Bridge and Simon Kay. The film is produced with funding from The National Lottery through Screen Scotland, proving once again that your lottery money goes to fund Scottish people pretending to be from California.
Executive Producers include Natalie Perrotta and Jim Steele for Patriot Pictures, Naysun Alae-Carew, Nic Crum, Lauren Lamarr for Blazing Griffin; Steven Little and Kieran Hannigan for Screen Scotland; and Stephen Kelliher and Yana Georgieva, who are Executive Producers for Bankside Films, because clearly this project needed more executives than actual creative talent.
Co-Producers are Barry Hutchison and Fiona Hutchison for Zertex Media, and Isabelle Georgeaux for Pont Neuf Productions, rounding out the impressive list of people who will take credit when this inevitably becomes a cult classic that three people watch on Netflix at 2 AM.
CALIFORNIA SCHEMIN’will be released by STUDIOCANAL in the UK and Ireland on 10 April 2026, just in time for everyone to realize they should’ve spent their money on literally anything else.
