Dwayne Johnson joins forces with Scary Movie star on live-action/CGI hybrid film

It looks like Dwayne Johnson hasn't had his fill of the bizarre just yet — and frankly, neither have I. His next project, Lizard Music, is shaping up to be a properly offbeat fantasy, and now there's a new face in the mix: Regina Hall. No, you’re not having déjà vu from a mid-2000s spoof. The Scary Movie star is officially on board, joining what’s becoming a rather eccentric cast.

Lizard Music brings together Johnson, Regina Hall, and director Benny Safdie, who previously teamed up with The Rock for The Smashing Machine.

The new ensemble

This little fever dream is shooting under the banner of Amazon MGM Studios. Hall joins Dwayne — who's not only front and centre as the lead but, predictably, has his hands in the producing pot as well. She’ll play a friend and colleague of Johnson’s character, best known by the delightfully cryptic moniker: The Chicken Man.

Rounding out the core cast, there’s newcomer Theo Leber taking the lead as the young protagonist, along with Alicia Silverstone and the always-disquieting Tim Heidecker. None of this exactly screams 'normal', but that’s clearly the point.

Plot: lizards, chickens, and late-night telly

Lizard Music is adapted from the Daniel Pinkwater novel, which means we’re in for talking lizards and inter-dimensional TV, not your run-of-the-mill family adventure. The story follows a boy (Leber), who stumbles upon a secret portal that whisks him away to a surreal after-hours television world, where (yes, really) lizards put on mind-bending concerts. His journey takes him into the orbit of The Chicken Man and his companion Claudia — a 111-year-old chicken, no less — as they embark on a quest to track down a hidden lizard society bouncing between unseen worlds.

• Regina Hall – friend/colleague of Johnson’s Chicken Man
• Theo Leber – as the boy at the centre of the madness
• Alicia Silverstone & Tim Heidecker – also along for the ride
• Screenplay & direction courtesy of Benny Safdie
• Production: Benny Safdie, Dwayne Johnson, Scott Stuber, Nick Nesbitt, David Koplan

For those keeping score, Safdie is scripting and directing the thing himself. He recently joined forces with Johnson on the Oscar-nominated The Smashing Machine, so the pair clearly have a bit of creative rapport. This time, though, it’s talking reptiles instead of wrestlers on the agenda.

As for Hall, she’s having a bit of a moment. On top of her gig in the new Scary Movie sequel, she just popped up in awards magnet One Battle After Another – yes, the one with DiCaprio, Sean Penn, and Benicio Del Toro all chewing scenery. Lizard Music will be her next big-screen outing, pushing her straight from dark satire into the feverish world of Pinkwater fans and 100-year-old chickens.