Alex Proyas to Direct 'The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag'

Australian filmmaker Alex Proyas is set to direct The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag for financing and production company Red Granite, Mythology Entertainment, Phoenix Pictures and Mystery Clock Cinema.

Red Granite is fully financing the project and will handle foreign sales.

Jonathan Hoag is based on the 1942 novella by iconic science fiction author Robert Heinlein. Proyas is writing the adapted screenplay; the novella was a favorite of Proyas' from a young age and served as the inspiration for his Dark City.

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Proyas is eyeing a fall 2012 start date and will shoot in Australia, where his Mystery Clock Cinema production shingle is based.

In Jonathan Hoag, the title character is struck with the realization that he has no memory of what he does during the day. Distraught and concerned that he might be engaged in some nefarious activities, he asks a husband-and-wife detective team to follow him.

Their investigation leads to a series of frightening revelations, beginning with a group of shadowy figures who warn of dire consequences if the investigation into the nature of Hoag's identity isn't called off.

Producers include Red Granite's Riza Aziz and Joe McFarland, Mythology's Bradley Fischer, Mike Medavoy and Arnie Messier, Proyas and Vince Gerardis. Joe Gatta, Topher Dow and Vincent Sieber are executive producing.

Aziz and McFarland launched Red Granite two years ago.