KJ Apa, Nadia Parkes Join Horror Film 'Obey'; Screen Gems Distributing

EXCLUSIVE: KJ Apa (The Map That Leads to You) and Nadia Parkes (HBO’s Youth) have inked deals to star in Obey, a new horror film from Waypoint Entertainment (Project Hail Mary, Cuckoo) and Spooky Pictures (River, 4 X 4: The Event), which Sony‘s Screen Gems has locked down for distribution.

Plot details are currently being kept under wraps. Sophie Kargman, the filmmaker behind the TIFF-premiering genre-bender Susie Searches, will direct from a script by Ryan Farhoudi.

The film will be produced by Ken Kao, Josh Rosenbaum, and Emily Cheung of Waypoint Entertainment’s Cweature Features and Steven Schneider, Roy Lee, and Simmy Wolf of Spooky Pictures. The project marks the companies’ next official collaboration following Damian McCarthy’s horror flick Hokum, which was released by Neon earlier this year. Alex Lebovici will exec produce.

Known for his breakout role as Archie in the Greg Berlanti-produced Riverdale, Apa was recently seen starring opposite Madelyn Cline in The Map That Leads to You, a romantic drama that hit No. 1 on Prime Video. He’ll next be seen playing iconic actor James Stewart in the biopic Jimmy, in theaters this November. Most recently, he landed a lead role in the Harlan Coben/David E. Kelley Netflix series Myron Bolitar. Next up, he’ll be seen in MRC’s holiday horror flick White Elephant, produced through a partnership with Radio Silence and Project X, dubbed RSPX. He is repped by UTA, Luber Roklin Entertainment, Mandy Jacobsen, Red 11 Management and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.

Parkes is a British actress who earlier this year was seen starring opposite Spike Fearn in the critically acclaimed rom-com Finding Emily from Universal, Focus and Working Title. She recently led the BBC series Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling Story, appears opposite Taron Egerton in the buzzy dark comedy Everybody Wants to F*ck Me, coming off its TIFF premiere, and will next be seen in Sharon Horgan’s HBO series Youth, premiering September 20. She is repped by Independent Talent Group, Range Media Partners, and GGSSC.

Kargman is repped by Entertainment 360 and Jackoway Austen Tyerman; Farhoudi by Gersh, Iconoclast and Bloch Law.