Toni Collette Joins Anna Kendrick in Sci-Fi Thriller ‘Stowaway’ (EXCLUSIVE)

By Justin Kroll

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Toni Collette will star opposite Anna Kendrick in the sci-fi thriller “Stowaway.”

The movie marks the second feature from Joe Penna and Ryan Morrison, the duo behind “Arctic,” a survival film that premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. “” will be directed by Penna, who will co-write the script with Morrison.

The story revolves around a mission headed to Mars, where an unintended stowaway accidentally causes severe damage to the spaceship’s life support systems. Facing dwindling resources and a potentially grim outcome, a medical researcher (Kendrick) emerges as the only dissenting voice against the clinical logic of both her commander (Collette) and the ship’s biologist.

Morrison will also serve as executive producer. XYZ Films will produce alongside Augenschein Filmproduktion and Rise Pictures. RISE Visual Effects Studios will provide VFX. XYZ and CAA Media Finance are arranging financing for the film and handling worldwide sales at the coming EFM in Berlin.

Pena and Morrison will exec produce.

Collette, who has appeared in movies like “The Sixth Sense” and “Little Miss Sunshine” and TV shows such as “United States of Tara,” most recently starred in A24’s horror thriller “Hereditary.” She will next be seen in Netflix’s “Velvet Buzzsaw” with Jake Gyllenhaal and Renee Russo, as well as Lionsgate’s “Knives Out” with Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, and Ana de Armas.

XYZ Films will be in Berlin at EFM 2019 with an additional slate of films that include “Synchronic” starring Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan, Nicolas Cage’s “Prisoners of the Ghostland,” and “The East” with Marwan Kenzari and Martijn Lakemeier.

Collette is represented by CAA, United Management, and Finley Management. Kendrick is represented by CAA and Morris Yorn, and Penna and Morrison are represented by CAA and Management 360.