Michael Biehn Returns to Studio Action Movies With Adam Wingard’s ‘Onslaught’ (Exclusive)

Michael Biehn, the actor who starred in James Cameron’s iconic 1980s movies The Terminator and Aliens, is returning to studio movies.

The actor has spent the last couple of decades working in the low-budget thriller space outside the Hollywood mainstream, but has now joined the growing cast of Onslaught, the action thriller that Adam Wingard is directing for A24.

Reginald VelJohnson, the Family Matters actor who is also remembered for his role in action classic Die Hard, and comedian Eric Wareheim (Tim & Eric) have also signed for the feature, which gets under way this month.

Lyrical Media and Ryder Picture Company are also backing the picture, which stars Adria Arjona as well as Wingard favorite Dan Stevens, UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Alex “Poatan” Pereira, and Queer actor Drew Starkey.

Many details for Onslaught are being kept in an underground experimental facility, but sources describe it as a gonzo action horror thriller.

Arjona is starring as a mother living in a trailer who falls back on a particular set of skills in order to protect her loved ones after she runs afoul of a threat that has escaped a secret military base.

Biehn will play a leader of an elite group of mercenaries who try to reign in the threat.

VelJohnson is playing a member of the mother’s trailer park community as is Wareheim.

As previously reported, Pereira is the chief villain of the story, a character named The Butcher. Stevens will play a German scientist working on the experiments that escape.

Aaron Ryder and Andrew Swett will produce Onslaught under their Ryder Picture Company banner alongside A24. Also producing is Alexander Black for Lyrical Media. Wingard and manager Jeremy Platt will also produce, via their new shingle Breakaway Civilization, along with Barrett.

Lyrical and A24 will co-finance, with A24 handling worldwide releasing. Lyrical’s Jon Rosenberg and Natalie Sellers will serve as executive producers with A24.

Apart for his role as soldier from the future Kyle Reese and Colonial Marine Corporal Hicks, Biehn has had roles in movies ranging from Cameron’s The Abyss to the Western Tombstone to Michael Bay’s The Rock.

His last work for a major production was a part in Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror, released in 2007. Although his movie output has consisted of low-budget action movie fare, the actor has popped up in mainstream TV in recent years, with appearances in The Mandalorian, The Walking Dead, and Law & Order: Organized Crime. He is repped by Realm Talent and Berwick & Kovacik. 

VelJohnson, who appeared in Disney’s recent Turner & Hooch series and voiced a character on Amazon’s Invincible, is repped by David Shapira & Associates and The Beddingfield Company.

UTA-repped Wareheim is one-half of Tim & Eric, a comedy team that also consists of Tim Heidecker. The duo have written, produced, directed and acted in a numerous shows for Adult Swim. Wareheim also appeared in and acted in a producer capacity on Aziz Ansari’s Master of None.