Deadline reports that Roger Avary’s AI-powered adaptation of John Milton’s Paradise Lost is now aiming for a wide theatrical release next Easter:
Ex Machina Studios has struck an exclusive North American theatrical distribution agreement with Mayfair Media Group, a group of exhibition executives led by Galaxy Theatres duo Frank Rimkus and Rafe Cohen.
The deal will see a number of Ex Machina’s movies released in New York, LA, Chicago, Dallas, Toronto, Atlanta, Miami, San Francisco, and other key metropolitan areas. Mayfair is due to give the films wide releases (1500+ screens) via Galaxy theaters as well as other theater chains, which we’re told were secured after they were shown footage of upcoming projects. . . .
The deal marks the first time an AI-oriented producer-studio has secured a theatrical pipeline deal such as this.
First up are Roger Avary’s Paradise Lost, which is scheduled for Easter 2027, and Alex Proyas’ Heaven in summer 2027. . . . Both projects are currently casting and we’re told both should enter production soon.
Milton’s poem deals, in part, with the fall of Lucifer/Satan and the subsequent fall of Adam and Eve—so it’s interesting that the film is set to come out next Easter, as there are already two films coming out around that time that might also deal with one or both of these subjects: The Chosen: Crucifixion is coming out March 12 (two weeks before Good Friday) and will cover “the history of humanity” going back to “the creation of the universe”, while The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One is coming out May 6 (Ascension Day) and will cover “the fall of the angels”, among other things.
So it’ll be interesting to see how these films play off of each other.
Easter 2027 is only seven months away, but it’s certainly possible that an AI-powered film could be made in that time. Earlier this year, Jon Erwin said The Old Stories: Moses—an hour-long special, made with AI, that was released in three parts—went from concept to streaming in just five months. (Erwin, of course, had already covered the fall of the angels himself in an AI-powered sequence in House of David.)
Incidentally, Alex Proyas—whose AI-powered film Heaven is about “a desperate bureaucrat who decides to escape his failing life by entering a technologically perfected afterlife”—was once attached to an adaptation of Paradise Lost himself. It was going to be produced by Legendary Pictures (the Dark Knight trilogy, etc.), but it was scrapped in 2012 over concerns about the visual-effects budget.
Thanks to Josh Shepherd for the heads-up.
September 10-17, 2026 — The Passion of the Christ re-release with The Resurrection of the Christ sneak peak (theatrical: Fathom)
September 18, 2026 — Daniel and the Fiery Furnace (theatrical: EKKL)
October 2, 2026 — The Flood: End of Mankind (theatrical)
October 30, 2026 — Sight & Sound Presents: Joshua Live! (theatrical: Roadside)
November 13, 2026 — God with Us (theatrical)
November 15-December 6, 2026 — The Chosen: Season 6: Episodes 1-6 (streaming: Prime Video)
December 11, 2026 — Zero A.D. (theatrical: Angel Studios)
Fall 2026 — The Promised Land: Season 2 (streaming)
March 12, 2027 — The Chosen: Crucifixion (theatrical: Amazon MGM)
Easter 2027 — Paradise Lost (theatrical: Ex Machina Studios)
May 6, 2027 — The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One (theatrical: Lionsgate)
first half of 2027 — Joseph of Egypt (streaming: Prime Video)
sometime in 2027 — Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints: Season 2 part 2 (streaming: Fox Nation)
March 31, 2028 — The Chosen: Season 7: Premiere (theatrical: Amazon MGM)
May 25, 2028 — The Resurrection of the Christ: Part Two (theatrical: Lionsgate)
no release date specified — The First Exorcist (theatrical: Helium Pictures)
no release date specified — House of David: Season 3 (streaming: Wonder Project)
no release date specified — Jacob (theatrical: Angel Studios)
no release date specified — Job (theatrical)
who knows when Malick will finish it — The Way of the Wind (theatrical)
No posts
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.