Charli XCX to star in new Faces Of Death movie

Is there a more classic career path in Hollywood than the Angry Birds Movie to Faces Of Death pipeline? And yet, here we are, treading that old familiar territory yet again: Music star Charli XCX has apparently signed on to star in a new film version of the infamous faux-documentary horror film.

This is per Pitchfork, which reports that the artist—whose previous forays into acting have mostly been confined to the voice recording booth, including an appearance as a particularly laid-back Angry Bird—will apparently co-star in the “reimagining” of John Alan Schwartz’s infamous 1978 film. Said movie (and its numerous sequels) remain massively controversial more than 40 years later, thanks to Schwartz’s use of actual newsreel footage of people’s deaths, mixed in with faked footage shot for the movie. (They were also massively profitable, with the first film making something like $35 million off of a sub-$1 million budget.)

Legendary Entertainment is handling the new movie, having tapped Daniel Goldhaber—currently drawing strong reviews for his ecoterrorism thriller How To Blow Up A Pipeline—to direct the film. In a statement, Goldhaber—who’s co-writing the movie with Isz Mazzei—said that, “Faces of Death was one of the first viral video tapes, and we are so lucky to be able to use it as a jumping off point for this exploration of cycles of violence and the way they perpetuate themselves online,” which suggests that, at the very least, the new movie will be a thoughtful exploration of exploitation cinema, rather than just a rote recreation of it.

Charli XCX joins a cast that includes recent Euphoria escapee Barbie Ferreira, plus Stranger Things star Dacre Montgomery. Per The Wrap, the film is apparently already shooting down in New Orleans.