After capturing the life of sasquatches with their latest feature, “Sasquatch Sunset,” filmmaker brothers Nathan and David Zellner are all set for their next project starring two-time Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett in the lead role.
It’s a sci-fi film titled “Alpha Gang,” in which fans will see Blanchett as Alpha One, “the leader of an alien gang sent on a mission to conquer Earth. She arrives disguised in human form together with her fellow extraterrestrials, posing as an armed and dangerous 1950s leather-clad biker gang. But their ruthless plan is disrupted when the gang catches the most toxic, contagious human disease of all: emotion.”
In the words of Blanchett,
“the Zellner brother’s work never fails to surprise and delight us.” And this time the sci-fi will be helmed under their direction. The sibling duo will also serve as the producer of the film. Meanwhile, Blanchett and Coco Francini are also on board as producers, through their Dirty Films outfit. Other producers include Ryan Zacarias for Fat City and Gina Gammell for Felix Culpa. In a joint statement with Francini The Lord of the Rings actress said, “In Alpha Gang, they (Zellner brothers) 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.”
Cate Blanchett as an Alien Invader in Zellner Brothers’ Comedy
French sales group MK2 Films, known for “Anatomy of a Fall”—winner of last year’s Palme d’Or at Cannes and an Oscar for best original screenplay—is set to start international presales for “Alpha Gang” at the Cannes market next week. CAA Media Finance will manage the sales for North America.
MK2 managing director Fionnuala Jamison said,
“We’re thrilled to be working with the visionary Zellner Brothers. Their script for Alpha Gang seamlessly blends the spirit of 1950s 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.”
The film is set to commence shooting this fall.
Who are the Zellner brothers?
David Zellner and Nathan Zellner are filmmaker sibling duos who work together under the name Zellner Bros. Their short film “Sasquatch Birth Journal 2” (2010) was selected for the Sundance Film Festival in 2011 and nominated for the Sundance Short Filmmaking Award that year. It’s a comedy about a family of Bigfoot-style creatures, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keough, but shot without a single line of intelligible dialog. The film became a surprise hit at Sundance and is now being distributed in the U.S. by Bleecker Street.
