eOne and Macro’s upcoming drama Freaky Tales has assembled an A-list cast to bring its original story to life. According to Deadline, Pedro Pascal, Ben Mendelsohn, Jay Ellis, and Jack Champion have been cast to play the main roles in the drama. The cast is rounded out by Angus Cloud, Dominique Thorne, Keir Gilchrist, and Michelle Farrah Huang.
Freaky Tales is the creation of celebrated filmmaking duo Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, best known for writing and directing the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Captain Marvel, a box office hit that was the franchise’s first female superhero-led movie. The story will be loosely based on Fleck’s childhood experience growing up in Oakland, California, and will explore real-life locations as well as notable historical events. However, some fictional elements will be thrown in for dramatic effect. Set in 1980s Oakland, Freaky Tales will revolve around four distinct characters with interconnected stories. At this point, character and further plot details are still being kept under wraps, however, it is apparent that Pascal, Mendelsohn, Ellis, and Champion will play each of these four contrasting characters.
Pascal gained widespread prominence for portraying Oberyn Martell in HBO’s hit fantasy series, Game of Thrones. He parlayed his GOT success into taking on projects more centered on his characters, including playing the titular protagonist in The Mandalorian. Pascal recently wrapped up filming for the first season of HBO’s upcoming drama The Last of Us which reunites him with fellow GOT alum, Bella Ramsey. While Pascal seemingly has a preference for the small screen, he has some notable film credits including Wonder Woman 1984, We Can Be Heroes, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, and The Bubble.
Freaky Tales will reunite Mendelsohn’s with Fleck and Boden following Captain Marvel, which commissioned him into the MCU as Talos. The Emmy-winning actor is known for his role in Netflix’s Bloodline. He recently completed filming for the feature films Misanthrope and The Marsh King’s Daughter, both currently in post-production. Ellis recently demonstrated range as one of the many lovable pilots in the blockbuster hit Top Gun: Maverick and is currently filming for the upcoming Dave Franco rom-com, Somebody I Used to Know. Newcomer Champion will be making a major entrance into the Hollywood scene as Jake Sully and Neytiri’s son in the hotly anticipated Avatar: The Way of Water.
In addition to the aforementioned cast, Freaky Tales will also feature appearances from some Oakland natives. The film will be executive produced by eOne’s Jillian Share, Jen Gorton, and Chanel Vidal. Producers include Jelani Johnson and Poppy Hanks from MACRO Film Studios. Other executive producers include famous Oakland hip-hop legend, Too $hort, and his manager David Weintraub.
Freaky Tales is in its early production stages, thus the coming months will reveal more details about the film which promises to offer an immersive experience, and as always, stay tuned at Collider for timely updates.