John Mulaney Lupita Nyong'o Jared Leto

Source: Lisa Gwynn / Christian Cody / Gage Skidmore, Wiki Commons CC BY-SA 2.0

John Mulaney / Lupita Nyong’o / Jared Leto

Searchlight Pictures has cast Jared Leto, John Mulaney and Lupita Nyong’o in Lunik Heist based on a daring US government plot.

Kemp Powers, who co-directed Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse and Pixar’s Soul, wrote the screenplay and will helm the feature.

Leto and Emma Ludbrook are producing through their Paradox, with Mark Johnson for Gran Via Productions.

Lunik Heist is inspired by the audacious true story of the American government’s plot to steal a Soviet spacecraft at a 1959 exposition in Mexico City.

Kemp’s script is based on an article by Jeff Maysh published in MIT Technology Review. Maysh serves as an executive producer.

“We’re so thrilled to bring together such an exceptional team,” said Matthew Greenfield, Searchlight Pictures president. “With the extraordinary talents of Jared, Lupita, and John, led by the visionary Kemp, Lunik Heist is a wild, roller-coaster ride, filled with subterfuge and unlikely heroes.”

Leto won the supporting actor Oscar for Dallas Buyers Club and has also starred in Blade Runner 2049, The Little Things, and House Of Gucci.

Mulaney’s credits include Saturday Night Live and Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, while Nyong’o won the supporting actress Oscar for 12 Years A Slave, and has also starred in current box office hit The Wild Robot, Black Panther, and Us.

Director of development Zahra Phillips will oversee the project for Searchlight, reporting to head of production and development DanTram Nguyen.

The studio will announce principal photography and release plans at a later date.