09/12/2025
Variety Exclusive
SleeStak Vandalism Fails to Slow Chaka: Pakuni Star Courted by Hollywood for ‘A Star Is Born’ Sequel
By: [Variety Staff]
LOS ANGELES — Not even a string of high-profile vandalism incidents could dim the spotlight on Chaka Manczewitz, the Pakuni breakout who has unexpectedly become Hollywood’s hottest new property.
Insiders confirm that a sequel to A Star Is Born is quietly in development, this time with a radical twist: Lady Gaga’s character, weary of her fame, forges a complicated, possibly platonic friendship with Chaka — who plays himself as an alienated “earth-man” navigating a game larger than himself.
The project is said to be exploring “the line between interspecies empathy and romance.” One studio insider whispered: “The tension is the point. Is it really platonic? Or is it something else entirely? That’s the story people want to see.”
Though Gaga has not officially signed on, she has not been ruled out. Other names on the shortlist for the leading lady role include Lindsay Lohan, Morgan Fairchild, and, in a curveball move, Morgan Freeman.
Behind the camera, Hollywood royalty are circling: Steven Spielberg and Rob Zombie are both attached as executive producers, while Tina Fey and Wim Wenders have expressed early interest in directing.
The pitch is generating buzz across the industry. “Chaka is a blank canvas, a primal everyman,” one producer told Variety. “He’s like Brando with fur. The camera loves him, crooked teeth and all.”
Despite the recent wave of SleeStak attacks on Chaka’s airway-health campaign — including the defacement of billboards and the torching of a cyber-truck — executives insist the controversies only fuel his mystique.
“The vandalism is real,” one studio exec admitted. “But it’s also free publicity. Hollywood runs on buzz, and right now, Chaka is the loudest name in town.”
Production timelines are still unclear, but insiders say the film could be fast-tracked for a 2027 release, aligning with the 50th anniversary of Land of the Lost.
As for Chaka himself? He addressed the rumors at a press scrum outside Old Altrusia: “Chaka… happy. Chaka ready. Mouth breathing bad. Hollywood good.”
