Jade Pettyjohn, George Lopez & Joel McHale Set For ‘Junkyard’ Horror-Thriller

EXCLUSIVE: Jade Pettyjohn (Little Fires Everywhere), George Lopez (Blue Beetle) and Joel McHale (Animal Control) have signed on for Junkyard, an indie horror-thriller from Dan Riesser. An Emmy-nominated director/producer on E! Entertainment’s The Soup during McHale’s hosting run from 2005 to 2015, Riesser’s film follows Sam (Pettyjohn), a strong-willed young woman who trespasses into a secluded scrap yard alongside her misfit friends, in search of something she’s lost. Soon, the friends find themselves trapped in a deadly fight for survival against a pack of bloodthirsty, well-trained guard dogs commanded by the mysterious junkyard owner (Lopez). McHale plays a corrupt sheriff who shows up and turns the dangerous situation into something far worse. Riesser, who previously co-wrote and directed the Bigfoot hunt dramedy Stomping Ground, directs from a script co-written with Mike L. Kinshella. John Moss of Firebook Entertainment (Every Heavy Thing) will produce alongside Jason Arsenault (A Small Fortune) and Jason Scott Goldberg (Glorious), with Jaime Gallagher (Mistake) co-producing and overseeing casting. Watch on Deadline Production kicks off in Atlanta next spring. Pettyjohn, who has most recently been seen on the shows Grey’s Anatomy, The Rookie, Doctor Odyssey and Monster, is repped by Innovative Artists, Range Media Partners and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern. Lopez, the stand-up, actor and producer of George Lopez fame, is repped by UTA, 3 Arts Entertainment and Schreck Rose Dapello. Most recently seen starring in Fox’s Animal Control, which returned for its fifth season in September, McHale is repped by UTA.