EXCLUSIVE: Aaron Holliday (Cocaine Bear), Jermaine Fowler (Sorry to Bother You), Michael Abbott Jr. (Fallout) and Sean Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) have wrapped on Appofeniacs, an indie horror film from writer-director Chris Marrs Piliero.
Appofeniacs is a riff on the term “apophenia” which is the tendency to find connections or patterns in things that are unrelated or random — common examples being confirmation bias and paranoia. This marks the feature debut for Piliero, who is known for his music video work with Ariana Grande, Britney Spears, Avril Lavigne, Kesha, and The Black Keys (for which he won an MTV VMA).
Piliero independently financed and produced the film, which also stars Will Brandt, Paige Searcy, Simran Jehani, Harley Bronwyn, and Sean Wing. Gunn exec produced the pic, with Salvatore Schiavone handling casting.
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Previously seen in Universal’s horror comedy Cocaine Bear, Holliday has also been seen on HBO’s Euphoria and Sharp Objects. Next up, he’ll be seen in Legendary’s Faces of Death, The Wilderness from producer Aaron Paul, and the Tom Ortenberg-produced Nickels.
Recently starring in Prime Video’s comedy Ricky Stanicky and FX’s A Murder at the End of the World, Fowler can next be seen starring opposite Tracy Morgan in Paramount+’s Crutch. He previously starred in the Duplass Brothers’ comedy The Drop, the Netflix horror film Weathering, and Coming 2 America opposite Eddie Murphy.
Abbott Jr. will next be seen in A24’s The Drama and the indie Bunny, which is nominated for the SXSW 2025 Grand Jury Prize. Other recent credits include The Bikeriders, The Last Stop in Yuma County, and Killers of the Flower Moon.
Best known for his roles as Kraglin in the MCU and Kirk Gleason in Gilmore Girls, Gunn’s recent TV appearances include The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Good Doctor, and The Terminal List. He currently plays in a dual role as Weasel and G.I. Robot in the DCU’s Creature Commandos, and he will also appear in James Gunn’s Superman.
Holliday is represented by Paradigm and 111 Media; Fowler by UTA, Entertainment 360, and Yorn Levine Barnes; Abbott Jr. by Untitled Entertainment, CESD, and Glaser Weil Fink; Gunn by UTA, Mitch Clem Management, and Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz.
The post Aaron Holliday, Jermaine Fowler, Michael Abbott Jr. & Sean Gunn To Star In Indie Horror Pic ‘Appofeniacs’ From Writer-Director Chris Marrs Piliero appeared first on Deadline.
