[15] He sold Chronicle, a script previously included on the Black List of promising unproduced screenplays,[16] to 20th Century Fox's Davis Entertainment.
[35] Featuring magical fantasy characters such as orcs as an allegory for racism, the film was critically panned upon its release in December 2017,[36] but Netflix reported that it was popular with its subscribers.
[37] In September 2017, Landis published a website called "A Scar No One Else Can See", which contained a 150-page theory on the themes of Carly Rae Jepsen's songs,[38] arguing that they present a dark, three-part narrative about heartbreak and rejection.
[39] Although Landis called the project a "celebration" of Jepsen, The Daily Dot and Pride.com described the document as a conspiracy theory,[40][41] and Reid McCarter of The A.V.
[42] Landis wrote a draft of the screenplay for Shadow in the Cloud (2020) before being removed from the project due to sexual assault allegations.
[49][50][51] In a 2013 interview with self-styled sexologist Shelby Sells, Landis made numerous comments about women, such as, "The most fucked up thing was that I cheated on a girl who I also gave a crippling social anxiety, self-loathing, body dysmorphia, eating disorder to.
"[52] Landis's statements were sharply criticized as misogynistic and objectifying of women, such as in a Jezebel piece which described his comments as "obnoxious", "twisted", and "gross".
[56] Anti-harassment activist Zoë Quinn posted about him, alleging that his abuse of women was an "open secret" in Hollywood, and that they had been withholding the story because "him & his dad are powerful figures".
[2][61][62] In a Twitter post expressing support for Landis's accusers, Chronicle director Josh Trank said that he had banned the writer from the set during filming.
[65][66][67][68] After the news broke, MGM shelved production of Deeper, a film script by Landis the studio had previously won in a bidding war.
[69] In August 2021, Landis published an essay titled "Why I Never Responded To My Public Shaming," in which he referred to the sexual assault accusations against him as "a somewhat corrupt enterprise," and rejected a comparison to comedian Bill Cosby and producer Harvey Weinstein on the grounds that he was "not a real celebrity," while conceding "some of what's been said about me is true."
He also discussed the therapy he sought following the accusations, and the public reaction to the fatal helicopter accident that occurred in 1982 on the set of his father's film Twilight Zone: The Movie.