Jade Pettyjohn, George Lopez and Joel McHale Join Indie Horror Junkyard

Jade Pettyjohn, George Lopez and Joel McHale have signed on to star in Junkyard, an independent horror-thriller, Deadline reported on 11 November 2026. Independent films are made outside the major studios, often with smaller budgets and more freedom in how they are put together.

Pettyjohn plays Sam, a strong-willed young woman. She trespasses into a secluded scrap yard with a group of misfit friends, searching for something she has lost. Once inside, the friends find themselves trapped in a fight for survival against a pack of bloodthirsty, well-trained guard dogs.

Those dogs answer to the mysterious owner of the yard, played by Lopez. McHale plays a corrupt sheriff who takes an already dangerous situation and makes it far worse.

Dan Riesser directs the film from a script he co-wrote with Mike L. Kinshella. John Moss of Firebook Entertainment will produce alongside Jason Arsenault and Jason Scott Goldberg. Jaime Gallagher is co-producing and overseeing the casting.

Riesser and McHale have worked together before, in a way. Riesser was an Emmy-nominated director and producer on E! Entertainment's The Soup during McHale's hosting run, which lasted from 2005 to 2015. Riesser's earlier feature work includes Stomping Ground, a Bigfoot hunt dramedy, a film that blends drama and comedy, which he co-wrote and directed.

Production is set to begin in Atlanta next spring. Until then, the cast and crew move through the pre-production steps that come before cameras roll, including fittings, location scouting and rehearsals.

For anyone following the film, the next concrete milestone is the start of shooting. Casting news like this often arrives months before a film reaches audiences, so the path from set to screen has a long way to run.