Alex Proyas.
Alex Proyas’ career is gaining momentum as he’s just signed with the Gersh agency and a long-stalled sci-fi thriller he wants to direct is moving ahead with a powerhouse Hollywood producer.
Mike Medavoy is set to produce The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag with a screenplay which Proyas adapted from a 1942 novella by American science fiction author Robert Heinlein.
The original story captured Proyas’ imagination from a young age, ultimately serving as inspiration for his 1998 film Dark City.
The title character is struck one evening with the realisation that he has no memory of what he does during the day.
Worried that he might be engaged in some nefarious activities, he contacts a husband and wife detective agency and asks them to surreptitiously follow him.
Their investigation leads to a series of frightening revelations, beginning with a group of shadowy figures who gravely warn of dire consequences unless the pair immediately cease their inquiry.
Proyas, who was previously repped by ICM, was first attached to the project in 2012 when Red Granite Pictures announced it would fully fund the picture.
The filmmaker is also set to direct The New Country, a time travel/rock’n’roll musical set in a desert in 1982, with US producer Brad Fischer. Guy Pearce will play the lead and Proyas aims to start shooting later this year.
As IF reported, the director of The Crow, I, Robot and Gods Of Egypt is building his own sound-proofed studio in Sydney to house his own productions and those from other producers. It’s due to open next month.