Steve Buscemi Plays a Pissed-Off Galactic Emperor for Telstra

Extraterrestrial scammers get slammed

“The peoples of Osstralia will soon know the full genius of our evil power. UNLEASH THE SCAMAGEDDON!”

Steve Buscemi’s bulbous-brained galactic emperor barks orders in the :90 below. But his malevolent minions can’t reckon with the cybersecurity prowess of Aussie telecom Telstra.

“What was the one rule I said we had to remember when launching the greatest creation of an entire species? DON’T TARGET A MIGHTY NETWORK! I guess we forgot.”

It’s a fun trip, played entirely for laughs, developed with agencies Bear Meets Eagle on Fire and +61.

Smuggler director Randy Krallman pushes the absurdity into the stratosphere, with an impressive array of aliens—including a chorus of ululating weirdos.

But Buscemi’s the key. His comic timing and delivery are perfection as he rants and bemoans his cruel fate.

Perhaps he’ll find more vulnerable pigeons elsewhere in the galaxy.

“We wanted the aliens to have that nostalgic character you only get from older sci-fi vs. modern CGI, so it was a combination of approaches,” Micah Walker, CCO of Bear Meets Eagle on Fire, tells Muse. To that end, the team combined practical puppetry, make-up and prosthetics with a bit of post-production wizardry. (Tough asteroids, AI!)

The team adopted a retro-futuristic style for the sets and costumes, “a mix of Kubrick, Dr. Who and Buck Rogers,” Walker says.

Alas, a particularly ridiculous bit wound up on the cutting-room floor.

“There was one gag we kept trying where the yellow character—the one who keeps crying—would cram a raw hot dog into his mouth,” he recalls. “It was completely unnecessary but very funny. We just couldn’t ever get it to fit into the edit.”

“He dropped the hot dog once and the other characters kicked it around the spaceship floor, trying to keep it away from the emperor. Which was also very funny, but just took too long.”

Never fear, that freak for frankfurters will still get to shine.

“We have a piece we’ll launch a bit later of him doing a special space dance, a spur of the moment idea that was just odd and hilarious,” Walker says.