Tyrese Gibson, Billy Zane & Jake Busey Join Dark Comedy-Thriller Mascotland

Billy Zane leads a twisted desert-set thriller as filming begins on Mascotland.

Tyrese Gibson, Billy Zane, Jake Busey and Armie Hammer are heading into the desert for a strange, darkly comic survival tale that’s already shifting expectations. The indie genre-bender Mascotland, formerly announced under the title Mascots, has begun filming in Los Angeles and the surrounding desert, with writer-director Kerry Mondragon steering the chaos.

The film assembles a cast that reads like a collision of cult and mainstream: Tyrese Gibson of the Fast & Furious franchise, Billy Zane of Titanic, Jake Busey of Stranger Things, and Armie Hammer of Call Me By Your Name. They’re joined by Oliver Hibbs Wyman and Blaine Kern III, who portray two young adult brothers raised in captivity and suddenly thrust into a world they’ve never known.

Zane takes on the role of a disturbed kidnapper whose carefully controlled world collapses when his captives escape. The brothers’ story pivots from trauma to uneasy redemption when Gibson’s character steps in, offering them a chance at something resembling normalcy. Jake Busey assumes a role originally intended for Udo Kier, who passed away late last year, adding another layer of unpredictability to an already unconventional ensemble.

Supporting players include Leo Fitzpatrick, James Paxton, Lin Shaye and Felicia “Snoop” Pearson of The Wire fame. Salomé Breziner produces, with Ben Braham Ziryab serving as cinematographer. Executive producers include Ben Lewin, Bryan Anderson, Matt Karol, Gabrielle Almagor, Samuel J. Pauling, Jijo Reed, Sugar Studios, Maritime Artists and Akashic Studios.

Mondragon previously directed Tyger Tyger, the Dylan Sprouse-led indie that leaned into anarchic energy and outsider storytelling. With Mascotland, he appears to be pushing even further into tonal collision — blending coming-of-age vulnerability with thriller tension and dark comedic bite.

Details remain tightly guarded, but the premise alone suggests a film that will test audience comfort levels while offering room for performance-driven intensity. Zane as a destabilized captor, Gibson as an unexpected moral anchor and a pair of sheltered brothers navigating the real world is a cocktail that could veer toward absurdity or something surprisingly human.

For Hammer, the project marks another step in his slow reemergence into independent filmmaking territory. For Gibson and Zane, it’s a chance to lean into character work outside their blockbuster résumés. And for genre fans, Mascotland feels like the kind of desert-shot, off-kilter thriller that could find life on the festival circuit before carving out cult status.

Production is underway. Now we wait to see just how strange Mascotland is willing to get.