Oscar Isaac is set to executive produce and star in “Stowaway,” playing Juan Carlos Guzmán, who is internationally recognized as the “greatest conman alive.”
Apple TV+ closed a deal for the rights to the developing project following a competitive situation. Steven Levenson is attached to develop the series, set against a glittering backdrop of wealth and opulence, with the pilot directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon.
“Stowaway” centers on Guzmán, who, in 1993, was discovered as a wheel-well stowaway, nearly frozen onto the wheels of a cargo jet that landed in Miami. He claimed to be a 13-year-old orphan from Colombia left with no choice but to risk a better life in America, but in reality, Guzmán was 17 years old, with an aunt in Miami and a mother alive and worried sick about him in Bogota.
As the logline explains, “It was far from the last lie he would tell — or the most ridiculous.”
Over the next two decades, Guzmán would gain international notoriety as he became the greatest conman alive today. “Traveling the globe, donning one alias after another, he stole millions from the wealthy clientele staying at the world’s most exclusive hotels,” the logline reads. “Yet no matter how seamlessly he could assume the identity of his victims, Juan always found himself on the run — not just from Scotland Yard, the Las Vegas Police Department or Interpol, but from a past he seemed unable to fully escape.”
Isaac will executive produce the project via his production company Mad Gene Media, alongside Elvira Lind and Gena Konstantinakos. Drew Comins (for Creative Engine), journalist Matthew Bremner, Levenson and Gomez-Rejon also serve as executive producers. Fifth Season will serve as the studio.
The new series marks the second big sale for Mad Gene following the upcoming drama series “Bananas,” starring Isaac and Ana de Armas and helmed by David O. Russell. The high-profile project also landed at Apple at the end of last year.
Reps for Apple declined to comment.
