AMC Network’s Shudder and RLJ Entertainment have partnered up to release “Mayhem,” the genre-bending, action-thriller film starring Steven Yeun, slated to hit theaters in early 2018.
For those who are fans of the zombie genre will find the premise of “Mayhem” pretty familiar. An airborne virus infects a group of people, causing the infected to act on their most erratic impulses and succumb to rage and violence. This film, however, adds a kick to the genre (it’s been buzzed about as “Die Hard” meets “Office Space”).
Yeun plays Derek Cho, an attorney at a major law firm who gets wrongfully fired after being set up by a co-worker. On the day of his firing, the airborne virus infects the corporate tower of the firm and Yeun’s character, along with Melanie (played by actress Samara Weaving), a disgruntled client of the firm, has to fight against crazed employees and security personnel to reach the big bosses on top to clear his name and find redemption.
The deal was finalized last week at the Cannes Film Festival with additional plans to premiere online via streaming site, Shudder, at the same time next year.
Director Joe Lynch, whose previous film was “Everly” in 2014, starring Salma Hayek as an ex-prostitute fighting for her life against the yakuza, adds his expertise of gore and snark to “Mayhem.” The pic premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in March 2017 to rave reviews, where film critic Joe Leydon, in his review for Variety, wrote that the film is “smartly constructed” and a “sardonically funny indie with [an] attitude.”
There’s more for Yeun: After his emotional but expected departure from the hit zombie post apocalypse show “The Walking Dead,” he’s also taken up “Okja,” directed by South Korean director Bong Joon-ho, which premiered to a four minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival. It will be available streaming via Netflix on June 28. He has also lent his voice to “The Star,” an upcoming animation film, co-starring the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Keegan-Michael Key, Kristin Chenoweth and Gina Rodriguez, to be released November 10, 2017.
