Dark Star Pictures has acquired the North American distribution rights to Zach Clark’s genre-bending comedy “The Becomers,” with plans for a theatrical release in the third quarter of 2024. The acquisition took place before the commencement of the 2024 European Film Market on Feb. 15.
The alien romance film had its world premiere at the 2023 Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal; it subsequently screened at Beyond Fest and the Leeds International Film Festival. The cast includes Molly Plunk, Mike Lopez, Frank V. Ross, Isabel Alamin andKeith Kelly. Russell Mael, the lead singer of Sparks, lends his voice to the film as narrator.
Written in march 2021, the film “reverberates with the pulse of American politics of that time,” according to the description. It draws from COVID, Qanon, and “constant states of anxiety while exploring themes of confusion, isolation and the deep need for human connection through the story of two body-snatching alien lovers. Dropped to Earth and escaping their dying planet, the two extraterrestrials (played by a sequence of actors) seek each other out —jumping from body to body — on our planet while becoming increasingly drawn into the madness of modern-day America.”
“I made‘The Becomers’to capture the way 2020 felt for me,” said Clark, “and it’s been both moving and unnerving to see that feeling continue to resonate with audiences. I’m so excited to be working with Dark Star to get this thing out into the weird, wild world.”
Clark also edited the film in addition to directing and writing. Joe Swanberg and Eddie linker are producers.
Michael Repsch, president of Dark Star, said in a statement, “The beauty of‘The Becomers’is its uniqueness; the film successfully touches so many different genres and wraps them all up with a backdrop of US politics — which can be a horror or comedy movie in itself. We could not be more thrilled to be working with Zach and bringing his zany brainchild to audiences in 2024.”
Repsch negotiated the deal with Yellow Veil Pictures on behalf of the filmmakers.
