Cate Blanchett to star in alien invasion film

Cate Blanchett has signed up to star in the comedy Alpha Gang.

The 54-year-old Australian actress will play the leader of an alien invasion in the new film from filmmakers David and Nathan Zellner.

Blanchett's character Alpha One is the head of an alien gang on a mission to conquer Earth and arrives on the planet in human form with her fellow extraterrestrials as they pose as a leather-clad 1950s biker gang.

However, their invasion plans are interrupted when the gang catches the "contagious human diseases" of emotion.

The film is due to begin shooting later this year with the Zellner brothers directing and producing with Blanchett and Coco Francini also involved as producers for their Dirty Films banner.

The pair said in a joint statement: "The Zellner brother's work never fails to surprise and delight us.

"In 'Alpha Gang', they have created a far-out world in order to lampoon something much closer to home: The hilarious, absurd, and peculiar truth of the human condition."

Blanchett previously revealed that she is "always trying to get out of acting" as she loves producing movies.

The Oscar-winning star said: "I'm always trying to get out of acting. I've been trying to stop acting my entire professional life.

"It's about the conversation. And sometimes that conversation involves me being in front of the lens, and sometimes it's back behind being a little bit too bossy sometimes from behind.

"The facilitation is equally as creative... I'm as interested in the development process as I am in the process of shooting it, and then I'm really interested in the post process right through to distribution and marketing."