Cate Blanchett Joins Zellner Brothers’ Alien Invasion Comedy ‘Alpha Gang’; CAA Media Finance, MK2 Films to Launch Package at Cannes (EXCLUSIVE)
Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett is set to star as the leader of the “Alpha Gang,” an alien invasion comedy by “Sasquatch Sunset” filmmakers David and Nathan Zellner.
The hot package will be launched at Cannes by MK2 Films (“Anatomy of a Fall”) handling international sales and CAA Media Finance handling North American distribution rights. “Alpha Gang” is set to start filming in the Fall.
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“Alpha Gang” marks the Zellner brothers’ anticipated follow-up to “Sasquatch Sunset,” the buzzy absurdist comedy starring Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keough which was the talk of this year’s Sundance Film Festival and is currently on release in the U.S. via Bleecker Street.
The Zellner brothers are producing “Alpha Gang” with Blanchett and Coco Francini for Dirty Films, as well as Ryan Zacarias for Fat City, and Gina Gammell for Felix Culpa.
“Alpha Gang” follows alien invaders sent on a mission to conquer Earth. “Disguised in human form as an armed and dangerous 1950’s leather-clad biker gang, they show no mercy… until they catch the most toxic, contagious human disease of all: emotion,” reads the synopsis.
“The Zellner brother’s work never fails to surprise and delight us,” said Blanchett and Francini of Dirty Films in a joint statement. “In ‘Alpha Gang,’ they have created a far out world in order to lampoon something much closer to home: the hilarious, absurd, and peculiar truth of the human condition,” Blanchett and Francini continued.
MK2 Films’ managing director Fionnuala Jamison said the company is “thrilled to be working with the visionary Zellner Brothers.” Jamison said the script for “Alpha Gang” “seamlessly blends the spirit of 1950’s rebellion with an intergalactic revolution.” “And with the incomparable Cate Blanchett in the role of the effortlessly cool Alpha One, leading an exceptional ensemble cast, we expect buyers to be fighting to join the ranks of the Alpha Gang,” said the executive.
Blanchett, who has won two Oscars with an additional six nominations, is known for her sprawling acting range, having played everything from a supervillain (“Thor: Ragnarok”) to a crook (“Ocean’s Eight”), a troubled socialite (“Blue Jasmine”), a sometimes tyrannical conductor (“Tár”), a phony talkshow host (“Don’t Look Up”) and even Bob Dylan (“I’m Not There”).
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