In the latest exodus of filmmakers transitioning to the small screen, Alex Proyas (Dark City) will make his first foray into network television by directing and executive producing the sci-fi drama Evolve for ABC.  The series, written and executive produced by Eureka co-creator Jaime Paglia, is based off of the recently published “Toxic City” novel trilogy, written by British Fantasy Award and Bram Stoker Award winning author, Tim Lebbon.  The series centers on the quarantined city of Los Angeles and the group of outsiders who lead an investigation to discover what really happened to their family members trapped inside, only to find out the citizens have evolved extraordinary abilities and are being hunted by the government.  Hit the jump for more.

Alex Proyas (Knowing) is set to adapt the graphic novel Joe Golem and the Drowning City by Hellboy creator Mike Mingola and Christopher Golden.  Per Deadline, the “supernatural-steampunk illustrated novel follows an orphaned teenage girl, an aging magician, a lunatic scientist, a Victorian occult detective, and the stalwart sidekick, Joe Golem—a man whose strange dreams hint of a history he has forgotten–as they struggle for the fate of an alternate 1970s lower Manhattan. In this vision, lower Manhattan sank into the water during a catastrophic earthquake in 1925, leaving those unwilling or unable to abandon it to make a new life in streets turned to canals.”  I never in a million years would have guessed that this story came from the mind of Mike Mingola.

The last time Mingola’s work landed on screen, we got Hellboy and Hellboy II: The Golden Army, but Proyas is no Guillermo Del Toro.  The Australian director plans to shoot Joe Golem in his native land, but Deadline doesn’t mention if Proyas plans to make this his next movie.  He’s also attached to direct The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag and Gods of Egypt.  Hit the jump for a synopsis of Mingola and Golden’s novel.

After developing an ambitious, VFX-oriented adaptation of Paradise Lost for nearly a year only to have Legendary Pictures scrap the film due to budget issues, director Alex Proyas (The Crow) is on the hunt for new projects.  He recently became attached to direct an adaptation of the dark novella The Unpleasant Profession of Jonah Hoag, but Variety reports that he’s eyeing a more large-scale project as well.  Proyas is currently in negotiations to helm Summit’s Gods of Egypt, an adventure film “set against the legendary world of great pyramids and sphinxes” that follows a thief and a god on a magical quest.

Proyas’ deal includes him writing the script alongside Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, so he’ll have a fairly intricate hand in the development of the project. Gods of Egypt sounds like a fun idea if done right, and maybe Proyas can put to use some of the crazy VFX work he had planned for Paradise Lost.  No word on how soon the project would come to fruition, but given that Proyas wants to write the script I’d assume it’s a ways off.

Back in February, we learned that Alex Proyas‘ adaptation of John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost had been scrapped due to budget issues.  The Knowing director has now moved on to a new adaptation, and will be bringing Robert Heinlein‘s novella The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag to the big screen.  In the novella, the eponymous character realizes he can’t remember what he does during the day, and hires a husband and wife detective agency to monitor his activities.  Their discoveries lead them to shadowy figures and frightening revelations.  It’s one of those rare situations where one person could say to another, “Damn.  I wish it had just been brain damage.”  Heinlein’s story provided the inspiration for Proyas’ Dark City, and it’s not difficult to see the similarities.  Hopefully, Hoag will provide Proyas the opportunity to show his evolution as a director rather than have him imitate one of his finer films.

Hoag will shoot in Australia with the producers eyeing a fall start date.  Proyas is also directing a short film in the anthology, Sydney Unplugged.  Hit the jump for the press release.

Australian actors and directors are lining up to participate in the anthology film Sydney Unplugged.  According to THR, Anthony LaPaglia, Toni Collette, Liev Schreiber, Russell Crowe, Alex Proyas, David Michôd, Ivan Sen, John Curran, Kieran Darcy-Smith, Rachel Ward, and Ray Lawrence will each helm a short film.  Sydney Unplugged is along the lines of previous “famous-people-love-major-city” movies New York, I Love You and Paris, J’Taime.

Anthology movies are always a mixed bag, but when each short comes from a different director, it’s at least exciting to see who will come up with the best of the bunch.  I’m particularly excited to see what Michôd (who previously directed Animal Kingdom) comes up.  Filming is set to begin in Sydney in the second half of 2012.

In the climate of budget conscious studios hesitant to gamble money on anything that doesn’t have a “2” in the title, more and more ambitious projects are having trouble crossing the finish line. Universal passed on Guillermo del Toro’s At the Mountains of Madness, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer are struggling to get their blended, multi-part film/TV adaptation of The Dark Tower off the ground, and most recently we saw Warner Bros. put their fantasy pic Arthur & Lancelot on hold in order to work out budget issues.

Now you can add Paradise Lost to the list of blue balled titles, as Legendary has pulled the plug. The ambitious adaptation of John Milton’s classic epic poem was to begin shooting in January, but Legendary decided in December to push production back in order to reduce the budget. Now the studio has scrapped the project all together. Hit the jump for more, including why Legendary backed out.

The reboot that no one is asking for looks like it may be moving forward. A revisiting of director Alex Proyas’ 1994 Miramax picture, The Crow, was previously in the works through Relativity Media. Since the Weinsteins distributed the original through Miramax and had contracts claiming ownership of all rights to The Crow, they filed suit against Relativity seeking “injunctive relief,” ie ceasing all The Crow-related production. Not to be intimidated, Relativity fired counter-claims.

Things haven’t gone particularly well for the reboot as directors have come and gone, writers have signed on and then dropped out, and principal actors have been offered roles but have ultimately left the project. In short, it’s been a mess. One bright spot in production is that both sides of the lawsuit have settled amicably. While the good news is that this brings The Crow reboot closer to reality, the bad news is that this brings The Crow reboot closer to reality. Hit the jump to read the press release.

Director Alex Proyas is filling out the cast for his big-budget adaptation of John Milton’s Paradise Lost, and it looks as though he’s found his Adam. Variety reports that Diego Boneta (Pretty Little Liars) is in final negotiations to play the first man on Earth. Bradley Cooper and Ben Walker star as archangels Lucifer and Michael respectively. For those unfamiliar, the story centers on the ultimate battle between good and evil when a banished Lucifer mounts an army against the forces of Heaven. Boneta recently wrapped a role in Adam Shankman’s musical Rock of Ages, which stars Tom Cruise.

The fairly impressive cast for Paradise Lost includes Casey Affleck as the angel Gabriel and Dijmon Hounsou as the Angel of Death, as well as Callan McAuliffe and Dominic Purcell. The script has gone through a number of writers, as Byron Willinger and Philip de Blasi wrote the first draft, followed by a draft by Stuart Hazeldine (Exam), which was then polished by Lawrence Kasdan (The Empire Strikes Back). Ryan Condal wrote the most recent draft. Legendary Pictures is looking to release the 3D film towards the end of 2013.

In what is shaping up to be an epic cast (which is good since it’s an epic poem), Paradise Lost has added yet another minion to the legions of dark angels. Dominic Purcell (Prison Break) will play Jerahmeel, an angel who is rechristened as Moloch when he falls in step with Lucifer’s rebellion against Heaven.  Alex Proyas (I, Robot) is directing the Warner Bros.’ project as an action-oriented adaptation of John Milton’s classic poem. The Legendary Pictures production also stars Bradley Cooper as Lucifer, Benjamin Walker as Michael and Casey Affleck as Gabriel. Since this tale has a lot of moving parts and a lot more cast, hit the jump for a break down.

We’ve got a couple of casting stories for you this afternoon. First up, Djimon Hounsou has joined the cast of Alex Proyas’ adaptation of John Milton’s classic epic poem Paradise Lost. The film has Bradley Cooper and Benjamin Walker (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) set to star as Lucifer and the archangel Michael, respectively. Variety reports that Hounsou will take on the role of Abdiel, the angel of death. The story revolves around the epic battle between Michael and Lucifer and Proyas will be utilizing motion capture and 3D in the adaptation. Paradise Lost is targeting a late 2013 release.

Additionally, Tom Wilkinson is in talks to join the cast of Alejandro Monteverde’s (Bella) historical drama Little Boy. The WWII-set story revolves around an 8-year-old boy with developmental problems who is left vulnerable to the cruelty of his classmates when his father, his only friend, leaves to go to war. Variety reports that Wilkinson will join a cast that includes Ben Chaplin, Emily Watson, David Henrie and possibly Kevin James (yes, that Kevin James), though his name is conspicuously absent from the trade’s report. Nevertheless, Little Boy is currently filming in Baja California.

Benjamin Walker, the man who will be Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, is in negotiations with Legendary Pictures to star in Alex Proyas’ adaptation of Paradise Lost.  Walker is up for the role of Michael, the archangel engaged in an epic battle of good and evil with Lucifer (Bradley Cooper), who mounts an army after after he is cast out of heaven.  Proyas is striving for a distinct and magnificent aesthetic with cutting-edge visual effects.  Hunter was very impressed with what he saw at the Comic-Con panel, suggesting “this movie could be one of the most visually breathtaking things ever projected on the silver screen.”  To give us a taste, Legendary released this enigmatic piece of concept art.

Production will begin in January in Sidney, which allows Cooper to shoot The Silver Linings Playbook in the fall.  Legendary is eying the end of 2013 for the 3D release.  Hit the jump to hear how Proyas describes his vision for the film.

Legendary Pictures has released the first concept art for Lucifer in Alex Proyas’ adaptation of John Milton’s Paradise Lost.  The film was part of Legendary Pictures’ pre-production panel at Comic-Con and while I was unable to attend, Hunter called it the most impressive film on the panel and if it lives up to the concept art they were shown, “this movie could be one of the most visually breathtaking things ever projected on the silver screen.”  Hopefully, Legendary will release more concept art for the film in the coming weeks.

Milton’s epic poem chronicles Lucifer’s fall from Heaven and his role in leading Adam and Eve to original sin.  Proyas says the adaptation will be “an incredible epic film about the Devil’s fall from grace and the Archangel Michael. Adam and Eve play heavily in it as well. This film couldn’t have been made a few years ago. In fact, we’re not even sure we can make it now. But we’re gonna try.”  Hit the jump to check out the concept art.  The film stars Bradley Cooper, will use motion capture, and is set for a late 2013 release.

Legendary Films held their first ever Comic-Con panel today kicked off their inaugural run with aplomb, bringing out plenty of A-list talent and displaying concept art for four different projects.

In addition to Pacific Rim, Legendary brought  Jeff Bridges, Ben Barnes, Sergei Bodrov and Alicia Vikander for Seventh Son, Bradley Cooper and Alex Proyas for Paradise Lost, and Mark Protosevich and Casey Hudson for Mass Effect.  Read on for a summary of the presentation and details on the concept art.

Some details have been unearthed regarding director Alex Proyas’ (Knowing) adaptation of the 17^th century epic poem Paradise Lost. We learned back in May that Bradley Cooper was attached to star, and that the film would include “aerial warfare,” but other than that not much was known about the ambitious undertaking. Well now it looks like the massive production will take place in Sydney, spanning 20 weeks of pre-production, eight weeks of principal photography, and 72 weeks of post-production, with the director utilizing motion capture to make the film.

3D had previously been mentioned as a possibility, but it appears there are currently no plans for the format. Hit the jump for more.

Lest you were worried that there was going to be a serious lack of major films at this year’s Comic-Con, Legendary Pictures has just announced its first-ever panel. The studio will be bringing out the big guns, as the films set to be featured are as follows: Guillermo del Toro’s next directorial project Pacific Rim, Alex Proyas’ adaptation of Paradise Lost starring Bradley Cooper, Seventh Son starring Jeff Bridges, and the feature film adaptation of Mass Effect.

The studio is bringing along the major talent from each film, including Pacific Rim’s Charlie Hunnam, Charlie Day and Idris Elba (as well as del Toro), Seventh Son’s Bridges and Ben Barnes, Both Proyas and Cooper from Paradise Lost, and Mass Effect game creator Casey Hudson and the screenwriter working on the film adaptation Mark Protosevich. Hit the jump to read the full press release.