David and Nathan Zellner’s upcoming alien invasion comedy Alpha Gang adds Channing Tatum, Lea Seydoux, Dave Bautista, Channing Tatum and more.
Channing Tatum, Dave Bautista, Zoë Kravitz, Léa Seydoux, and Riley Keough have joined the already announced Cate Blanchett and Steven Yeun for Alpha Gang, forming one of most fun ensembles we’ve seen in a while. The alien invasion comedy hails from Sasquatch Sunset directors David and Nathan Zellner and will go up for sale at next month’s American Film Market.
With so many brilliant names attached to it, we can’t see the film having too many problems being snapped up and following that, production is set to get underway in the spring. The story sounds really fun: ‘taking place in the 1950s, it follows a group of alien invaders as they pretend to be a leather-clad biker gang. Blanchett, who also produces, will play the gang’s leader.’
Deadline broke the news, confirming the film’s new cast. We say ‘new’ because the project already existed in a previous iteration. Andrea Riseborough, Nicholas Hoult, Jon Hamm, Mackenzie Davis, Sofia Boutella, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Steven Yeun were the project’s original cast when it was first announced back in 2020. However, whilst film production is never easy, it was exceedingly difficult in the years following 2020 and Yeun is now all that remains of that original cast.
That said, Sasquatch Sunset was something of a sensation at Sundance this year and so the Zellner brothers clearly have plenty of actors lining up to work with them, as this talented ensemble proves. Their previous credits include Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter and Damsel.
The major question mark that hangs over this production is whether it will be snapped up by a company with a theatrical release in mind. The debate about whether comedy plays successfully in cinemas is an ongoing one, with few resounding wins to make a strong case for giving films of this genre a theatrical run. Still, we’re hoping that’s what happens although several streamers will be looking at the film’s ensemble cast and thinking that this is just the kind of project that works for them. We’ll let you know more when the American Film Market opens for business in early November.
