Grant Gustin, Tom Pelphrey, Paul Sparks & More Set For Dark Comedy ‘Rooster’ From First-Time Feature Director Mills McQueen
EXCLUSIVE: First-time feature director Mills McQueen has wrapped production on Rooster, a dark comedy with a buzzy cast. The call sheet included Grant Gustin (The Flash), Emmy-nominated Task and Ozark star Tom Pelphrey, Emmy nominee Paul Sparks (House of Cards), Julia Schlaepfer (1923), Matt Gomez Hidaka (Eddington), Beau Knapp (The Nice Guys), and Yao (Sinners).
A darkly comic tale of pride, obsession, and poultry, penned by McQueen, Rooster follows a debt-strapped Austin salesman who “borrows” his neighbor’s prized rooster in a desperate attempt to turn his life around. When the bird dies and he secretly replaces it, his flamboyant neighbor — a local tour guide who treats his flock like family — sets out to uncover the truth, igniting a feud that spirals into betrayal, obsession, and escalating absurdity.
Shot in Austin, the film is produced by Carl Effenson (Mudbound, Bob Trevino Likes It) and Kelly Peck (The Brutalist, The Son and the Sea). Executive Producers include Amber Brask, McQueen, Edgar Rosa, Alex Borlenghi, Michael Denton, and Greg Denton.
In a statement to Deadline, producers Effenson and Peck said McQueen “strikes the perfect balance between levity and menace” with a film “unlike anything we’ve ever seen.”
They added, “We’re so excited to bring this original and hilarious film to audiences, and for them to experience Mills McQueen for the first time.”
For his part, McQueen told us, “I’m committed to original storytelling, with films that remind us of the sensibilities of simpler, more connected times. It was imperative to create a homage to 90s films, when movies were written for 40 ft screens, and rented habitually for at home rewatches. ROOSTER and the artists that participated in its creation, are part of the powerful renaissance to connect audiences with the theatre again.”
Gustin is repped by CAA, Robert Stein Management, and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller; Pelphrey by Gersh, Brillstein Entertainment Partners, and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern; Sparks by Gersh and Circle Management + Production; Schlaepfer by Gersh; Hidaka by Gersh and Luber Roklin Entertainment; Knapp by Gersh, Luber Roklin, and Yorn, Levine, Barnes; and Yao by Stewart Talent, Luber Loklin, and Peikoff Mahan.
