EXCLUSIVE: Apple has greenlighted Liminal, a sci-fi action-thriller from director Louis Leterrier (Fast X) that will star Academy Award nominee Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman) and Emmy winner Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Wonder Man).
Liminal is based on the AWA graphic novel Telepaths by Eisner Award winner J. Michael Straczynski, Steve Epting and Brian Reber. While the plot of the feature take is being kept under wraps, the source material takes place in a world where a tenth of the population suddenly gains telepathic powers as a result of electromagnetic disturbance. Subsequently, newly telepathic Boston police find themselves contending with a faction, led by a wrongly convicted prisoner, who are trying to escape a world in which their powers will make them targets.
Hailing from Apple Studios, Liminal is written by Justin Rhodes (Terminator: Dark Fate). Zach Studin will produce for AWA Studios, alongside Kevin Walsh for The Walsh Company via his overall deal with Apple Studios. Ray Angelic will exec produce alongside Straczynski, Epting and Reber, with Patrick McNamara co-producing for The Walsh Company. Juliet Kirby is also co-producing.
Kirby most recently starred in Ron Howard’s survival thriller Eden, Benjamin Caron’s Netflix crime thriller Night Always Comes — which she also produced — and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Her upcoming slate also includes Ruins, a Miramax adaptation of the novel by Amy Taylor, where she’ll produce and star opposite Sebastian Stan. She is represented by CAA, Hamilton Hodell, Linden Entertainment and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole.
Abdul-Mateen II is having a banner year, coming off rave reviews for Marvel’s Wonder Man, with his Man on Fire series set to premiere April 30 on Netflix. Upcoming, he’ll also be seen starring opposite Mark Wahlberg in Elegant Bratton’s crime thriller By Any Means. He is repped by 1V1 Entertainment, WME and Johnson Shapiro Slewett Kole.
Leterrier is an Emmy-winning French filmmaker known for directing Fast X, the Netflix series Lupin, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Now You See Me and more. Most recently, he directed 11817, a sci-fi horror film for Netflix starring Greta Lee and Wagner Moura. Also attached to direct Fast Forever, the final main installment in the Fast & Furious franchise, he is represented by A.J. Brandenstein and Robert Offer of Sloane, Offer, Weber and Dern.
Rhodes is repped by Lit Entertainment Group, CAA, and Felker Toczek Suddleson. AWA is repped by Untitled.