Animals and humans join 'G-Force'

By Carolyn Giardina

Nicolas Cage, Steve Buscemi and Tracy Morgan will be three of the lead voices in "G-Force," for Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films.

Bill Nighy and Will Arnett also have joined the ranks of the human actors in the live-action/CG film, which marks the directorial debut of Oscar-winning visual effects innovator Hoyt Yeatman.

The story follows a group of ultra-intelligent animal commandoes who work for a government agency trying to prevent an evil billionaire from taking over the world.

Cage will play Speckles, a mole; Buscemi will portray Bucky, a hamster; and Morgan will voice Blaster, a guinea pig. Nighy will portray an industrialist, and Arnett will play an FBI agent.

Live-action leads also include Zach Galifianakis, Kelli Garner, Gabriel Casseus and Jack Conley.

Production is currently under way in Los Angeles. Jerry Bruckheimer is producing. Executive producing are Bruckheimer Films' Mike Stenson and Chad Oman, along with Duncan Henderson.

"It's a good story; it's unique characters, it's half animation, half live action," Bruckheimer told The Hollywood Reporter. "It falls right into the Disney family of films -- the kind of films we make, like 'National Treasure,' which entertain everybody from the smallest kid to the oldest grandparent."

Yeatman -- who won an Academy Award for visual effects on "The Abyss," as well as a Technical Achievment Award -- is "a visual effects genius, and he has worked on a number of our movies in the past," Bruckheimer said. "(Yeatman) came up with this idea with his son, believe it or not. We developed the screenplay. ... Now we are filming. It's pretty exciting for him -- it's his first time (directing) -- and it's exciting for us to get into a whole new medium."

Cage is repped by CAA. Buscemi and Morgan are repped by Endeavor.

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