Sci-Fi Thriller Movie ‘Liminal’ in the Works at Apple TV+, Based on “Telepaths” by Babylon 5 Creator

Apple TV+ has announced a new sci-fi thriller title, "Liminal," starring Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman,” “The Fantastic Four: First Steps”) and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (“Wonder Man,” “Watchmen”) in the leading roles. The film is currently in pre-production and expected to begin filming in a few weeks.

Liminal is based on the AWA graphic novel “Telepaths” by Eisner Award winner J. Michael Straczynski, who is known as the creator of the sci-fi series, Babylon 5. Louis Leterrier will direct the film, which is based on a script written by Steve Epting, Nic Kelman, and Brian Reber. Leterrier is known for The Incredible Hulk (2008), Clash of the Titans (2010), and Now You See Me. More recently, he has directed the Netflix series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019), Fast X, and will direct Fast Forever. 

Zach Studin will produce on behalf of AWA Studios. Kevin Walsh will produce for The Walsh Company through his overall deal with Apple Studios. Ray Angelic will executive produce alongside Straczynski, Epting, and Reber. The project was written by Justin Rhodes (“Terminator: Dark Fate”). Co-producers are Patrick McNamara for The Walsh Company and Juliet Kirby.

In the film, A sudden electromagnetic pulse ripples across the planet, igniting powerful telepathic abilities in one-tenth of humanity overnight. As the world reels from the shocking transformation, a squad of newly gifted Boston police officers is thrust into action: they’re ordered to hunt down a wrongly convicted prisoner who has just become the defiant hero and leader of a fugitive telepath underground. Hunted and feared for powers that now mark them as targets, these telepaths are fighting for survival in a world that wants them silenced. Both men stand as heroes in their own right—one sworn to uphold the law, the other to protect his kind—and the future of their fractured society may ultimately rest on whether they can find the trust to bridge the divide between them.

J. Michael Straczynski is best known as the creator of the groundbreaking sci-fi series Babylon 5 (1993–1998). He broke into television with animation credits on He-Man and She-Ra, later serving as story editor on The Real Ghostbusters and Murder, She Wrote. Straczynski wrote and produced 92 of Babylon 5’s 110 episodes, crafting a five-year serialized arc that won two Hugo Awards, multiple Saturn Awards, and Emmys. He went on to create the spin-off Crusade (1999), Jeremiah (2002–2004), and co-create the Netflix series Sense 8 (2015–2018) with the Wachowskis. In film, he wrote the Clint Eastwood–directed drama Changeling (2008), earning a BAFTA nomination, and contributed to Ninja Assassin (2009), Thor (2011, with a cameo), Underworld: Awakening (2012), and World War Z (2013). A prolific comics author, Straczynski ran The Amazing Spider-Man for Marvel (2001–2007), wrote DC’s Superman and Wonder Woman, and created original series including Rising Stars, Midnight Nation, and Ten Grand. He founded Studio JMS and Joe’s Comics, launched an autobiography, Becoming Superman (2019), and has headed the Creative Council at AWA Studios since 2020. An early internet pioneer who engaged fans online, the atheist writer with Asperger syndrome has received an Eisner Award, a Bradbury Award, and an asteroid named in his honor.