Brenton Thwaites And Erin Moriarty Join ‘C.L.A.Y.’ From Simon Afram

Brenton Thwaites (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) and Erin Moriarty (The Boys) are joining the cast of C.L.A.Y., a psychological cyber-thriller written, directed, and produced by Simon Afram, as casting finishes, Deadline reports. Principal photography is due to begin in London this November.

C.L.A.Y. “follows a brilliant but socially invisible computer prodigy who finds purpose and belonging when he is drawn into C.L.A.Y. (Clowns Laughing At You), an underground hacker collective whose daring exploits turn digital provocation into real-world consequences.” As their notoriety grows, intelligence agencies, criminal syndicates, and rival hackers are drawn to the group, and more.

Thwaites and Moriarty are joining Nicolas Cage, Michael Sheen, Jordi Mollà, Emilio Sakraya, Adrian Topol, and Agnez Mo, a partial reunion of key cast members of the unreleased WWII espionage feature Fortitude. The thriller will also be Afram’s directorial debut and marks Mo’s first English-language feature role, following her English-language screen debut in Prime Video’s Reacher, Deadline reported on Oct. 19. She is an Indonesian superstar singer and actor, and is the most awarded artist in the history of Indonesia, with over 190 accolades.

“‘Brenton and Erin are two of the most exciting actors working today, and they bring exactly the charisma and emotional truth this story needs. With them, our cast is complete, and I couldn’t be happier as we head into production together in London this November,’ said writer-director Simon Afram.”

Casting is by Rich Mento (Warm Bodies). Producers include Afram, Edward Kahl, Reza Roohi, Topol, and Georgette Turner; executive producers include Bianca Goodloe, David Scaramanga, Daniel Haido, and Cüneyt Kaya. Clay Pictures Ltd is the production company.

C.L.A.Y. is Afram’s second writing credit. Afram financed Fortitude with $45 million of his own money and hired Simon West (Con Air) to direct the film, starring Cage and Ben Kingsley. C.L.A.Y. comes amid the litigation between Afram and Netflix after the hard drive containing an unencrypted copy of Fortitude was stolen in June this year. Afram and Op-Fortitude are seeking at least $105 million in damages, alleging that the loss damages the film’s commercial prospects. Netflix disputes liability, per Reuters and LA Times.