Matt Ross’ ‘Kockroach’ to Star Chris Hemsworth, Taron Egerton and Zazie Beetz — Starts Shoot in April

Apart from his acting gigs, Matt Ross is best known for directing the 2016 Sundance standout “Captain Fantastic,” which was also selected for Cannes. While that film skewed toward an intimate, indie family drama, Ross is now returning to the director’s chair with a darker, more hard-edged project.

I still haven’t dug into Ross’s next crime thriller, “Kockroach,” but according to Deadline, the project has landed a major cast update.

Chris Hemsworth has signed on to star alongside Taron Egerton and Zazie Beetz, stepping into the role originally set for Channing Tatum. Tatum exited the film, because of scheduling issues, echoing a similar situation from three months earlier when Oscar Isaac departed—an opening that ultimately led to Egerton joining the lineup.

Adapted from William Lashner’s novel of the same title, “Kockroach” centers on an enigmatic outsider who infiltrates New York City’s criminal ecosystem and rises to the top as its most powerful crime boss.

The film is directed by Ross, working from a screenplay reimagined by Jonathan Ames,. Filming is currently slated to kick off in April.

Ross recently directed all four episodes of the acclaimed Netflix mini-series “Death by Lightning,” which dramatizes the stranger-than-fiction true story of 20th U.S. President James Garfield and Charles Guiteau, the man who went on to assassinate him.

Hemsworth continues to stack his slate with “Kockroach,” joining a growing lineup that also features “Avengers: Doomsday,” “Subversion,” “Stuntnuts: The Movie,” and “Extraction 3.” Up next for the actor is the Amazon/MGM crime thriller “Crime 101,” which is set to arrive in theaters on February 13.