Syfy’s pilot for ‘Cipher’ has found its adult lead in ‘Entourage’s Adrian Grenier, who will play John, the father of a 13-year-old video game enthusiast, Asa (played by Gabriel Bateman). After the death of John’s wife, he and Asa move to John’s hometown of Austin, but after Asa’s brain is implanted with artificial intelligence technology, they find themselves at the center of a great conflict. Also cast as a series regular is Sydney Morton.
Bateman’s casting was announced last week, as was that of Kyla-Drew Simmons, who will play Asa’s online gaming buddy Annie.
Morton will play Bridgette, “an NSA operative who knows more about the source of the tech inside Asa than she lets on.”
‘Cipher- (which is a working title that may change), originates from writer Allison Miller, who is a producer on the CBS All Access series ‘Strange Angel’. This is part of an overall plan between Miller and Universal Content Productions. As such, she will also executive produce, along with David Gordon Green, Danny McBride, Jody Hill and Brandon James for Rough House Pictures. Peter Hoar, who directed the pilot for Netflix’s ‘The Umbrella Academy’ will be behind the camera for ‘Cipher’.
Grenier is best known for playing Vincent Chase for eight seasons of HBO’s ‘Entourage’ plus a spinoff theatrical movie. He was seen in last year’s ‘Affairs of State’ and voices Captain Joe Callisto on the Disney Junior series ‘Miles from Tomorrowland’.
Morton co-starred on Netflix’s ‘She’s Gotta Have It’, produced by Spike Lee. She has also appeared on ‘Younger’ and ‘Jessica Jones’ and in the movie ‘The Intern’.
‘Cipher’ is one of two teen-based pilots that Syfy ordered with an eye on them possibly hitting the air this fall, with the other being ‘(Future) Cult Classic’.
As NBCU Cable Entertainment’s President of Scripted Content, Bill McGoldrick, said:
“’Cipher’ and ‘(Future) Cult Classic’ are genre-bending stories with gripping scripts and talented creatives attached. Both are very unique projects that we are excited to pilot as we look towards the future of Syfy.”
UCP President, Dawn Olmstead added:
“It has been an inspiring process working with teams behind ‘Cipher’ and ‘(Future) Cult Classic.’ Allison Miller and Shay Hatten are rising stars who have created strong and diverse worlds that we are looking forward to bringing to life with our partners at Syfy.”
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Source: Deadline
