While a number of science fiction authors and books have been mined over the years for movie adaptations, many not really doing well to honor the source material, one author has largely been untouched which is surprising considering the considerable shadow he casts over modern science fiction due to his works. That may change of Alex Proyas manages to get this off the ground after a couple of other films of his have fallen through. Proyas is looking to bring The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag to the big screen from author Robert A. Heinlein. Proyas has certainly done some intriguing works over the years and captured attention with The Crow way back in the day and then more so with Dark City, but he’s faltered a bit since.
Check out the formal press release with some of the details about what they hope to accomplish:
Los Angeles, CA – April 10, 2012 – It was announced today that Los Angeles based film production, finance and international sales company Red Granite Pictures will fully finance and co-produce Alex Proyas’ “The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag” with Mythology Entertainment, Phoenix Pictures and Mystery Clock Cinema.
Producers are Riza Aziz and Joey McFarland (Red Granite), Bradley Fischer (Mythology Entertainment), Mike Medavoy and Arnie Messier (Phoenix Pictures), Alex Proyas (Mystery Clock Cinema) and Vince Gerardis. Joe Gatta, Topher Dow and Vincent Sieber are executive producers.
Proyas (“Dark City,” “I, Robot,” “Knowing”) will direct “The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag.” The film will shoot in Australia where Proyas is a resident and operates his production company, Mystery Clock Cinema. Producers are eyeing a fall 2012 start date.
In “Hoag,” the title character is struck one evening with the realization that he has no memory of what he does during the day. Distraught over his predicament, and particularly concerned that he might be engaged in some nefarious activities, he contacts a husband and wife detective agency and asks them to surreptitiously follow him. The truth takes a dark and ultimately earth-shattering turn as 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 into the nature of Hoag’s identity.
Proyas adapted the screenplay from a 1942 novella by the Hugo award-winning science fiction author Robert Heinlein. The original story captured Proyas’ imagination from a young age, ultimately serving as inspiration for his iconic film “Dark City.”
“Hoag” marks the first of several projects between Red Granite and Mythology Entertainment, whose partners are Bradley Fischer, writer/producer James Vanderbilt, and writer/producer Laeta Kalogridis.
Red Granite’s Pictures sales arm, Red Granite International, will handle foreign sales for the film.
Still waiting for somebody to do Heinlein’s “Friday” and “Stranger in a Strange Land” …