Alex Proyas Tackles Robert Heinlein's 'The Unpleasant Profession Of Jonathan Hoag'

Alex Proyas hasn’t had much luck lately. The last two films he tried to make, Dracula Year Zero and Paradise Lost, both got scratched for budget reasons. He’s just aligned himself to The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag, based on a Robert Heinlein novella from 1942. Here’s hoping he gets to the start line this time, with funding from upstart company Red Granite.

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.