Cate Blanchett to Star in Alien Invasion Comedy "Alpha Gang"

Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett is attached 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 will handle North American distribution rights. 

Principal photography is set to start in the Fall.

“Alpha Gang” marks the Zellner brothers’ 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, Ryan Zacarias for Fat City, and Gina Gammell for Felix Culpa. 

The official synopsis reads, "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,”. 

“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,”.

MK2 Films’ managing director Fionnuala Jamison added 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,” added 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 talk show host (“Don’t Look Up”) and even Bob Dylan (“I’m Not There”).