Nicolas Cage reteams with litigious Fortitude producer for cyber-thriller C.L.A.Y.

Per Deadline, Afram will write, direct, and produce C.L.A.Y., a “psychological cyber-thriller” that taps Cage to lead a cast including Michael Sheen (Masters Of Sex, Fortitude), Jordi Mollà (MobLand, Fortitude), Emilio Sakraya (Speed Racer, Fortitude), and Adrian Topol (Snowflake, Fortitude). This will be Afram’s second writing credit following Fortitude, which Afram wrote for Con Air‘s Simon West, who was presumably too busy to take on another Afram-backed assignment so soon after his last one. As for that title, Deadline has published story details about the new film, saying it “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 the group’s notoriety grows, their actions attract the attention of intelligence agencies, criminal syndicates, and rival hackers.”

“C.L.A.Y. is about identity, belonging, and the extraordinary power the digital world can have over our real lives,” Afram said, perhaps subconsciously alluding to the turmoil his burgeoning film career has endured due to the pilfering of his unencrypted movie. “At its heart, it’s a deeply human story about people searching for purpose in a world where almost anything is possible behind a screen. I wanted to create a film that pulls you in, remains unpredictable, and stays with you long after the film ends.”