Joe Penna to direct sci-fi thriller Trespasser
Director Joe Penna, whose credits include the science fiction flicks Stowaway and Release, will helm the upcoming science fiction thriller Trespasser for Endeavor Content. The picture, which is based on a comic novel that came out in 2017, has been in the works at Endeavor Content since December 2018. Trespasser is a graphic novel written by Justin M. Ryan and originally published by Alterna Comics. It follows a father and daughter named Hector and Maria as they make their way through the aftermath of a devastating war in Alaska, which has poisoned the air and the food supply.
Apparently, Trespasser was originally released as an Amazon Prime video series. Nonetheless, thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign, Ryan was able to print a paperback collection of the series of previously released digital issues. Producer Jason Fuchs and writer Gabe Hobson initially acquired the rights to Trespasser in December 2018. Fuchs has been in several notable films, including IT: Chapter Two (2019), The Passage (2019), and La La Land (2019), and he also has a rich background as a writer and director (2018). Fuchs has worked as a producer on IT: Chapter Two and the planned Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy adaptation, and as a writer on Wonder Woman (2017) and Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012).
Joe Penna has directed several successful science fictions and thriller films, including the upcoming Stowaway (2021), about an astronaut crew threatened by an unplanned passenger aboard their vessel, and the critically acclaimed Arctic (2018), about a man (Mads Mikkelsen) forced to survive in harsh arctic conditions after a terrifying plane crash. Joe Penna’s other works include the thriller Release (set in the year 2020 and about a group of people with unfinished business in the face of a growing pandemic) and the short film Turning Point (2015), which follows Victoria (Jade Harlow) as she is exposed to a deadly disease and has to survive the night alone.
Details about the film adaptation of Trespasser are still being kept under wraps. However, it has been established that Endeavor Content, the same company responsible for such films as The Twelve, Bring On the Dancing Horses, and Headhunters, will be producing the project. Trespasser’s Jason Fuchs, Alixandra Fuchs, and Brad Fuller, together with executive producer Alex Ginno, will be in charge of production.