EXCLUSIVE: Thea Sofie Loch Næss (The Ugly Stepsister) is set to topline CRCL9, a psychological thriller from writer-director M. Axilleas and Chris Weitz‘s Depth of Field (Murderbot), which has wrapped production.
Inspired by real events, the film has Loch Næss playing an American woman studying in Europe who has been targeted by an online stalking game. As the situation becomes increasingly dangerous, she starts playing the game herself in an attempt to outwit her stalker.
Axilleas is producing alongside co-writer Erik Van Wyck and John Paterakis, with Weitz, Andrew Miano, and Dan Balgoyen from Depth of Field and Lilette Botassi of Greece’s Inkas Films exec producing.
Loch Næss is a Norwegian actress best known for starring in The Ugly Stepsister, a body horror feature from filmmaker Emilie Blichfeldt, which premiered to critical acclaim at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, scoring 96% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and releasing in theaters earlier this year, while inking a streaming deal with Shudder. Well known in her hometown of Oslo, she also recently starred as Marianne Ihlen in the international award-nominated miniseries So Long, Marianne, and played a leading role in the hit Netflix miniseries La Palma. She is represented by Actors in Scandinavia, Gallant Management, Gersh, and Independent Talent Group.
Axilleas is an award-winning Athens-based filmmaker and an active part of the European independent cinema scene. He commented on making the film, “It’s often said that 90% of filmmaking is casting, and I experienced that axiom working with Thea Sofie Loch Næss on CRCL9. The story tracks the descent of a young woman into existential darkness, and it all rested on Thea’s shoulders. She committed fully and made a daring leap into the role.”
An Oscar-nominated writer and producer known for work on projects like About a Boy and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Weitz has most recently co-created, co-showrun, written and exec produced Murderbot, Apple’s sci-fi series starring Alexander Skarsgård, which has been renewed for a second season. He is repped by CAA, Untitled Entertainment, and Yorn, Levine, Barnes.
