EXCLUSIVE: Winston Duke (Black Panther films) and LaKeith Stanfield (Roofman) have signed on for roles in Slime, the dystopian animated feature marking the feature debut of Sundance prize-winner Jeron Braxton.
As previously announced, Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi and Willow Smith lead the cast, also featuring Teyana Taylor, Anna Sawai, John Cho, and John Boyega. Production kicks off later this month. Also new to the project is Capstone Global, which has attached to handle worldwide sales.
Set in a too-near future, Slime follows Muna (Smith), an optimistic but broke young woman who signs up for a paid clinical trial, only to be injected with a mysterious creature’s slime that unleashes destructive powers she can’t control. On the run, she kidnaps Glenn (Mescudi), the lab worker who injected her, and the two set out on a perilous odyssey through a crumbling dystopian world in search of refuge and a cure. But as the clock runs out, is Muna transforming into humanity’s worst nightmare or its last, unlikely savior?
We scooped the project, described as an anime-inspired pre-apocalyptic sci-fi monster flick with retro video-game aesthetics, in 2023. It’s written by Brian Ash and will feature an original soundtrack and score by star Kid Cudi. Hammerstone Studios is financing the project with Script 2 Screen and producing alongside Mad Solar and Capstone Pictures. Producers include Alex Lebovici, Mescudi, Karina Manashil, Smith, and Aaron Bergman. Ibrahim Mohammed, Chase Vergari, Craig Peck, Dennis Cummings, Brian Ash, Michael Learner, Jon Oakes, Christian Mercuri, Courtney Chenn, Waylen Lin, and Alex Kaplunov are executive producing, with Folks VFX providing animation services.
Known for his role as M’Baku in the Black Panther films and other MCU fare, which he’ll reprise in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, as well as his starring role in Jordan Peele’s Us, Duke most recently appeared alongside Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt in Universal’s The Fall Guy. He is repped by WME and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller.
For Stanfield, recent credits include Roofman, opposite Channing Tatum, and Play Dirty, opposite Mark Wahlberg. He’ll be seen coming up in Neon’s The Wrong Girls, Warner Bros.’ action-thriller F.A.S.T., and Boots Riley’s I Love Boosters, among other projects. He is repped by CAA, Stark Management, and Ginsburg Daniels Kallis.
Known for films like Barbarian, Flight Risk and Don’t Move, Hammerstone is currently in post-production on its Mark Wahlberg–Yahya Abdul-Mateen II film By Any Means, as well as At the Sea starring Amy Adams, Murray Bartlett, Dan Levy, and Chloe East.