Gabriel Byrne, Justin Chatwin and Nora Arnezeder Join Crackle’s In the Cloud!

Nora Arnezeder, Gabriel Byrne, Justin Chatwin, Tomiwa Edun and Laura Fraser have been cast in Crackle’s upcoming original movie, In the Cloud.

Production is already underway on In the Cloud – an exploration of the inevitable evolution of Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence and the dramatic implications when it is used by those with questionable interests.

In the Cloud is slated to premiere in December of this year.

NORA ARNEZEDER, GABRIEL BYRNE, JUSTIN CHATWIN, TOMIWA EDUN AND LAURA FRASER CAST IN CRACKLE’S UPCOMING ORIGINAL MOVIE, ‘IN THE CLOUD’ FROM IMPERATIVE ENTERTAINMENT AND AUTOMATIK 

PRODUCTION UNDER WAY ON THE HIGH-OCTANE, INTERNATIONAL, SCI-FI THRILLER IN LONDON AND MANCHESTER, ENGLAND

CULVER CITY, Calif. (September 20, 2017) – Crackle, Sony Pictures Television Networks’ free, ad supported streaming network, today announced that it has cast Nora Arnezeder (Safe HouseThe Words, “Mozart in the Jungle”), Gabriel Byrne (An L.A. MinuteUsual Suspects), Justin Chatwin (“Shameless,” War of the Worlds), Tomiwa Edun (“The Hour,” “Merlin,” “Bates Motel”) and Laura Fraser (“Breaking Bad”) in Crackle’s upcoming original movie, In the Cloud from Imperative Entertainment and Automatik.  In addition, production is underway in London and Manchester, England. The 90-minute feature is expected to release this December on the streaming network. 

A Crackle original movie from Imperative Entertainment and Automatik, In the Cloud is a high-octane, international, sci-fi thriller that takes place in the near future after dozens of people are killed in attacks by a serial terrorist bomber.  An exploration of the inevitable evolution of Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence and the dramatic implications when it is used by those with questionable interests, In the Cloud tells the story of two estranged tech geniuses.  Brought together by the mysterious death of their mentor, they overcome their differences to create a perfect cutting-edge technology with the goal of invading the terrorist’s memories using a VR environment to pinpoint the remaining bombs and prevent countless more casualties.  But hiding in the shadows are those with secret agendas who seek to utilize the “memory cloud” to create and control what can only be described as a digital afterlife. In their race to thwart the attacks, our heroes will inadvertently create an AI so powerful it may change the very meaning of life and death for the future of humanity. 

In the Cloud is directed by Robert Scott Wildes (Poor Boy) and written by Vanya Asher.  The movie is produced by Imperative Entertainment’s Dan Friedkin, Tim Kring, Bradley Thomas, Justin Levy, Automatik’s Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Little Island Productions in the U.K. Jillian Apfelbaum from Imperative Entertainment and Automatik’s Chris Goble also serve as co-producers.

Gabriel Byrne plays Doc Wolff, an old-school Jewish New York City transplant. He is the brilliant mind behind the most advanced privately funded neuroscience research lab in the United Kingdom.  In addition, he’s a mentor to Theo and Hale who are more like his sons. That is, before they got into it over a girl and Hale ditched them to start his own venture.            

Justin Chatwin portrays Hale (Halid), a neuroscientist and a brash anarchist pragmatist with a penchant for hallucinogens who, due to extreme post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), doesn’t remember anything about his life before landing on the shores of California as a child refugee from a war-torn Eastern European country.  Eventually he ended up in London under the tutelage of Doc Wolff before he split off to develop his own technology. Hale runs a hackerspace for amateur neuroscientists and the like.

Tomiwa Edun plays Theo Jones, a brooding genius with a checkered past. Raised by his grandmother and the hard streets of South London.  Like Hale, he never knew his parents. He’s a silver-tongued charmer who went through a wild streak after facing a lifetime of racism.  He joined a street gang and started racking up a rap sheet before turning his attention to computer sciences.  He was discovered through Doc Wolff’s coding outreach and engagement program, and Wolff helped him find his place. 

Nora Arnezeder is Z (Suzanna), is a hardware tech guru and Hale’s girlfriend. She becomes integral in helping Hale and Theo crack Doc Wolff’s unfinished brain mapping code. As she and Theo work closely together, we realize they’re attraction is what drove a wedge between Theo and Hale years ago. 

Laura Fraser is Ms. Mary, a grant representative for the Exer Foundation, which funds Doc Wolff’s lab. An assertive globetrotting businesswoman, Ms. Mary has become Doc Wolff’s confidant and sometime lover. She secretly works for a billionaire that is interested in Doc Wolff’s research.

In the Cloud builds on Crackle’s growing slate of scripted original programming, including the network’s original movies: Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser, the first ever digital sequel to a major motion picture, starring David Spade; Dead Rising: Watchtower, starring Jesse Metcalfe, Virginia Madsen and Rob Riggle; Mad Families, starring Charlie Sheen and Leah Remini; and Party Boat with Jay Mohr, the networks most recent movie release.  Original dramas include: “StartUp,” starring Martin Freeman, Adam Brody, Ron Perlman, Edi Gathegi and Otmara Marrero, which returns for a second season on September 28th; “The Oath,” executive produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and his G-Unit Film & Television Inc., starring Ryan Kwanten, Sean Bean, Katrina Law, Cory Hardrict, JJ Soria and Arlen Escarpeta, which premieres in early 2018; and “Snatch,” based on the iconic British film of the same name, starring Rupert Grint, Dougray Scott, Luke Pasqualino and Lucien Laviscount. Also on the free streaming network is the Emmy®-nominated, stop-motion animated, comedy series “SuperMansion,” with Bryan Cranston, Keegan-Michael Key, Chris Pine, Jillian Bell and Yvette Nicole Brown, which returns on October 5th with a Halloween themed special, “SuperMansion: Drag Me to Halloween.”

For more information on In the Cloud, visit Crackle on FacebookInstagram and Twitter.  Join the conversation with #IntheCloud and #Crackle.

About Imperative Entertainment

Founded in 2014, Imperative Entertainment is an innovative and competitive entertainment studio located in Santa Monica, CA. Imperative specializes in the development, production and financing of original & branded entertainment across all platforms focusing on film, television and documentaries.  Imperative Entertainment is a division of The Friedkin Group, a consortium of automotive, hospitality, entertainment, golf and adventure companies led by Chairman and CEO Dan Friedkin.

About Automatik

Automatik is a Los Angeles based film and television production company led by Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Fred Berger, and partnered with Grandview Management. Berger and Kavanaugh-Jones have producer over 60 films including Jeff Nichols’ films TAKE SHELTER, MIDNIGHT SPECIAL, and LOVING, as well as the INSIDIOUS Chapters, the SINISTER series, and THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE. Berger received an Academy Award® nomination and won Golden Globe, BAFTA, PGA, BFCA, and NY Film Critics Circle awards for Damien Chazelle’s LA LA LAND starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling.

Since Kavanaugh-Jones and Berger partnered in 2016, they are off to a prolific start, making over 20 films, including Reed Morano’s I THINK WE’RE ALONE NOW, Max Minghella’sTEEN SPIRIT, Leigh Whannell’s STEM, Hany Abu-Assad’s THE MOUNTAIN BETWEEN US, André Øvredal’s MORTAL, Lennart Ruff’s THE TITAN, Nia DaCosta’s LITTLE WOODS, Rowan Athale’s STRANGE BUT TRUE, and Wayne Roberts’ RICHARD SAYS GOODBYE.

The duo are currently in production on Chris Weitz’ OPERATION FINALE starring Oscar Isaac and Sir Ben Kingsley, and Miles Joris-Peyrafitte’s DREAMLAND starring Margot Robbie.