MOVIE NEWS – Dave Bautista stars alongside Cate Blanchett, Chris Pine, Riley Keough, and Lily-Rose Depp in the eccentric science-fiction comedy Alpha Gang. The story of extraterrestrials disguising themselves as a 1950s biker gang will receive its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

Since bringing his time as Drax in the Guardians of the Galaxy films to a close, Dave Bautista has repeatedly sought out directors with distinctive creative voices. He joined Denis Villeneuve for Dune, worked under Rian Johnson in Glass Onion, and appeared in Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl. The former professional wrestler has never hidden his desire to earn recognition as a serious character actor, and the projects he has selected largely support that goal. One of the most peculiar films currently on his schedule is finally preparing to emerge, having secured a place at a major autumn festival.

The Toronto International Film Festival has selected the Zellner brothers’ alien-invasion comedy Alpha Gang for its Special Presentations program, with the film set to make its international debut in September. Bautista shares the screen with Cate Blanchett, Chris Pine, Riley Keough, and Lily-Rose Depp. Its plot centers on a group of extraterrestrials who arrive on Earth disguised as members of a 1950s motorcycle gang while secretly planning to conquer the planet. Blanchett portrays their commander, Alpha One, but the mission begins unraveling when the invaders unexpectedly develop human emotions.

Alpha Gang is among five newly announced additions to TIFF’s Special Presentations lineup. The latest group also features Rachel Morrison’s romantic drama Love of Your Life, starring Margaret Qualley and Aaron Pierre, along with Bassam Tariq’s Houston-based assassin thriller Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, led by Mahershala Ali. Ben Shirinian’s The Housewife and Benjamín Naishtat’s Glaxo complete the newly revealed selection, while the announcement has also brought the first official image from the Zellners’ film.

Alpha Gang Followed a Long and Complicated Route to Production

The project was initially revealed in June 2020, when Andrea Riseborough and Jon Hamm were attached to lead the cast. Production was expected to begin somewhere in Europe during 2021, but that incarnation never moved forward. Delays caused by the pandemic instead gave the Zellner brothers enough room to make Sasquatch Sunset, their nearly dialogue-free Bigfoot film that became one of the most discussed and divisive titles at Sundance in 2024. Once that production was completed, work on Alpha Gang effectively began again from the ground up.

Blanchett boarded the revived project in May 2024, with Bautista joining her in October as the replacement ensemble gradually took shape. That version of the cast was not final either, because Chris Pine and Lily-Rose Depp entered the picture when shooting began in Budapest in the middle of 2025. The Zellners have built their careers around intentionally unusual movies that often split audiences, as the reaction to Sasquatch Sunset demonstrated. Bautista’s attraction to this material is easy to appreciate, however: a melancholy science-fiction comedy about alien conquerors destabilized by human emotion fits naturally beside the sincere, introspective roles he has continued to pursue since Blade Runner 2049.

Source: MovieWeb