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\n\tEXCLUSIVE<\/strong>: Oscar-winning\u00a0Pulp Fiction<\/em>\u00a0co-writer\u00a0and The Rules Of Attraction<\/em> director Roger Avary has been set to write and direct a feature version of Biblical epic Paradise Lost<\/em> for emerging AI-oriented production company Ex Machina Studios.<\/p>\n \n\tTarantino collaborator Avary is the latest to tackle the influential and complex John Milton poem of 1667, which has long posed a challenge for creatives seeking to adapt its story about the fall of man. The epic nature of the work, spanning war in heaven and the creation of the world, has defeated others before \u2014 including a high-profile Alex Proyas \u2013 Warner Bros version starring Bradley Cooper \u2014 but Avary and Ex Machina believe AI can make the undertaking more manageable.<\/p>\n \n\tEx Machina co-founder and CEO Marco Weber (Igby Goes Down<\/em>) is producing Paradise Lost<\/em>, with\u00a0veteran production designer Kirk Petruccelli (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider<\/em>) executive-producing. K5 International is sales at the upcoming Cannes market.<\/p>\n \n\tThe producers describe the project as \u201cthe ultimate faith-based heroic saga: a cosmic war in the heavens where the charismatic, rebellious archangel Lucifer defies God, is hurled into the abyss of Hell, and vows revenge on all creation. From the fiery lake of damnation, Lucifer rises as Satan to seduce humanity\u2019s first parents, Adam and Eve, in the flawless Garden of Eden, triggering the Fall of Man and the loss of\u00a0Paradise\u00a0itself. At its core,\u00a0Paradise\u00a0Lost<\/em>\u00a0asks the question every generation must answer: When faced with reckoning and crisis, do we obey, rebel, or redeem?\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAccording to team, the project will tap into California-based Ex Machina\u2019s proprietary AI, which it says allows for \u201cexpansive worlds to be realized at a responsible budget while preserving the primacy of real actors, human-authored narratives, and guild-aligned production practices\u201d. Cast and start dates have yet to be set. We hear the project will still have an ambitious budget for an indie project.<\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s not the first epic poem tackled by Avary, who previously co-scripted Robert Zemeckis\u2019 2007 version of Beowulf<\/em> for Paramount. The filmmaker, also known for scripting the original Silent Hill <\/em>adaptation and for directing Killing Zoe<\/em>, teased that he was working on multiple AI projects in February of this year. His last directorial outing was 2019 action film Lucky Day<\/em> with Nina Dobrev.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cBeowulf<\/em>\u00a0was a revisionist reimagining made on a massive budget, but with\u00a0Paradise\u00a0Lost<\/em>\u00a0I\u2019m taking a more faithful approach at a fraction of the cost, using cutting-edge generative AI to bring Milton\u2019s vision to life in ways unimaginable just a few years ago,\u201d explained Avary. <\/p>\n \n\tHe continued: \u201cThis project brings together everything I\u2019ve learned as a filmmaker and proves that powerful storytelling doesn\u2019t require blockbuster budgets, but the right tools and team. Partnering with Ex Machina and Marco Weber, we\u2019ve created something I believe will move audiences, spark\u00a0conversations, and remind us why we tell stories in the first place \u2014 to wrestle with what it means to be human in the face of the divine. I\u2019m grateful for the opportunity to share it with the world.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cRoger Avary and Milton. Not much more that needs to be said. We are really excited about this one and cannot wait to see it come to life,\u201d added Weber, whose Ex Machina slate also includes Alex Proyas\u2019 Heaven<\/em>, Cort\u00e9s<\/em> and Space Nation<\/em>.<\/p>\n