UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Alex “Poatan” Pereira is in talks to play the villain The Butcher in Adam Wingard’s Onslaught
Fresh off the success of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire and with Face/Off 2 in development, director Adam Wingard and screenwriter Simon Barrett are working on another project that will take them back to their roots. It’s called Onslaught, and it’s said to be “in the vein of Wingard and Barrett’s cult classics like The Guest and You’re Next.“ It was previously announced that Adria Arjona (Hit Man) has the lead role in the film, and now The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Alex “Poatan” Pereira is in talks to make his acting debut as the villain of the piece, a character called The Butcher. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Pereira will be able to “bring his set of skills to the role — including anaconda chokes and roundhouse kicks.” They also note that “Pereira is a former kickboxer and Brazilian mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is one of a handful of fighters to become a champion in two different weight divisions.”
Speaking of skillsets, sources say that Arjona’s character is “a mother who falls back on a particular set of skills in order to protect her loved ones after she runs afoul of a threat that has escaped a secret military base.”
Lyrical Media and A24 are co-financing the project and A24 will handle worldwide distribution. Onslaught is expected to go into production in New Mexico this fall. Aaron Ryder and Andrew Swett are producing the film under their Ryder Picture Company banner, alongside A24. Alexander Black is producing for Lyrical Media. Wingard and his manager Jeremy Platt are also producing, through their new shingle Breakaway Civilization, along with Barrett. Lyrical’s Jon Rosenberg and Natalie Sellers serve as executive producers.
Working on Onslaught means that Wingard, who also directed Godzilla vs. Kong, has to miss out on the third film in the Godzilla / Kong series. He had been open to returning, previously saying, “There’s always the seduction of making a trilogy out of it, and I think that there’s some untapped areas to go into. There’s also ways to continue to innovate the stylized approach to the MonsterVerse, and what’s great about the MonsterVerse is that it’s allowed so many different directors to approach it with their unique style and color palette.” When he stepped away to make Onslaught, Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures hired Grant Sputore, the director of Hilary Swank’s sci-fi thriller I Am Mother, to take the helm of the new installment. Dave Callaham (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) is writing the script. The MonsterVerse film is scheduled for a March 26, 2027 release.
Onslaught doesn’t have a release date yet, but chances are good that we’ll see it long before the third Godzilla / Kong movie. What do you think of Alex Pereira being cast to play The Butcher in the film? Let us know by leaving a comment below.