EXCLUSIVE: I, Robot and Dark City filmmaker Alex Proyas is taking over directing duties on Cortés, the historical epic starring Oscar nominee Antonio Banderas as Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés.
Filming began in Paris and Spain a few weeks ago with French filmmaker Paul Mignot announced at the time as helming the project. Proyas has subsequently taken over. According to the production, “Mignot remains attached to the project in another capacity.” No reason was given for his directing exit.
The AI-enabled film, written by Oscar nominee Nicholas Kazan (Reversal of Fortune) and produced by Marco Weber is co-financed and co-produced by Utopai Studios and Ex Machina Studios.
It marks Proyas’ highest-profile movie since he made big-budget Lionsgate action pic Gods Of Egypt a decade ago.
The announcement comes as the companies head into the American Film Market (AFM), where sales partner K5 International, under the Ex Machina sales label, will be looking to sell the project to buyers in Europe, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand. Utopai Studios controls distribution rights throughout the rest of the world, including North America and Asia.
Set in 1519, “Cortés begins in Cuba, where a restless soldier hungry for glory seizes command of an expedition to the Yucatán and sails without permission. After landing on the coast of what is now Mexico, he meets Marina, an enslaved Indigenous woman and gifted linguist who becomes indispensable to his advance. As Cortés turns fragile alliances, faith and fear into instruments of conquest, Marina watches him transform from a daring outlaw into a self-anointed messiah.”
Proyas said today: “Cortés is one of cinema’s great untold stories — a tale of ambition, conquest and betrayal, told through the eyes of the extraordinary woman who helped shape the course of history. Nicholas has written a script of remarkable scale and intimacy, exploring a man of profound contradictions — visionary and ruthless, charismatic and monstrous, capable of extraordinary courage and unspeakable cruelty. With Antonio, we have an actor who can inhabit every facet of that complexity. My collaboration with Marco and the Ex Machina team on Heaven has opened up exhilarating new possibilities for cinematic storytelling, allowing us to bring this extraordinary world to life on a scale and with a visual ambition that would once have been unimaginable.”
The filmmaker, also known for movies The Crow and Knowing, most recently produced the 2023 thriller Mercy Road starring Luke Bracey and Toby Jones and is is on production on Ex Machina project Heaven, which is due for release in 2027. He’s also been in post on comedy musical R.U.R. in recent years.
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Mignot’s previous credits include the historical feature Vaincre ou Mourir. He has also directed campaigns for BMW, Porsche, Audi, Lexus, Jeep, L’Oréal, Louis Vuitton, and Emporio Armani.
