EXCLUSIVE: Thor and Mad Max star Chris Hemsworth is joining Taron Egerton and Zazie Beetz in New York crime pic Kockroach, from producer Andrew Lazar (American Sniper).
Hemsworth takes over in the movie from fellow A-lister Channing Tatum who we’re told has had to step away due to scheduling conflicts.
Filming is being lined up for April on the movie, which Lazar has described as in the vein of Goodfellas and Scarface. The synopsis reads: “Kockroach is the story of a mysterious stranger who takes on New York’s criminal underworld, transforming himself into a larger-than-life crime boss in a city where power is everything.”
The feature adaptation of the novel by William Lashner is being directed by Matt Ross (Captain Fantastic) from a screenplay by Jonathan Ames (You Were Never Really Here) with revisions by Ross. Christina Weiss Lurie (Persuasion) will produce with Lazar.
Black Bear will continue selling international rights at the upcoming EFM. CAA Media Finance and Range Select co-rep domestic.
Heads of department include Colin Gibson, the production designer who won an Oscar for his work on Mad Max: Fury Road; Emmy-winning cinematographer Adam Arkapaw, whose credits include The Order, The King, Macbeth, and the first seasons of Top of the Lake and True Detective; and VFX Supervisor Jonathan Dearing, known for his work on M3gan, The Invisible Man, and Upgrade.
Upcoming for Hemsworth are Amazon MGM’s crime-thriller Crime 101, the Russo bros’ Avengers: Doomsday and Amazon action pic Subversion.
He is repped by CAA and Greenberg Glusker.