The latest acquisition news from out of the 64th Berlin Film Festival and the European Film Market comes from RADiUS-TWC, which has acquired the North American rights to Andrea Di Stefano’s feature debut Paradise Lost, the Pablo Escobar film starring Benicio Del Toro, Josh Hutcherson, Brady Corbet and Claudia Traisac.
Not to be confused with the John Milton poem that Legendary Pictures have been trying to develop into a movie or the trilogy of docs about the West Memphis Three, Paradise Lost is one of a number of movies that filmmakers have been developing about the notorious Colombian drug kingpin, this one starring Del Toro as Escobar and Hutcherson as a young man pulled into the business after marrying his niece.
The official synopsis is as follows:
Young surfer Nick (Hutcherson) thinks all his dreams have come true when he goes to visit his brother in Columbia. Against an idyllic backdrop of blue lagoons and white beaches, he falls madly in love with Maria (Traisac) a beautiful Colombian girl. Everything seems perfect until he meets her uncle, Pablo Escobar (Del Toro).
You can read the full press release with quotes from the principal players below and click on the still above for a larger version:
RADiUS-TWC is proud to announce it has acquired North American rights to PARADISE LOST starring Academy Award winner Benicio Del Toro as Pablo Escobar and Josh Hutcherson as a young man who finds himself unexpectedly pulled into the family business after marrying Escobars niece. The film also stars Brady Corbet (MARTHA, MARCY, MAY, MARLENE) and newcomer Claudia Traisac in a breakout performance.
Directed by Andrea Di Stefano making his feature debut, the film was produced by Dimitri Rassam and co-produced by Romain Le Grand on behalf of PATHÉ and Frédérique Dumas on behalf of ORANGE STUDIO. Miguel Angel Faura from ROXBURY (Spain) and uMedia (Belgium) also co-produced.
RADiUS has slated a 2014 release.
Synopsis is as follows: Young surfer Nick (Hutcherson) thinks all his dreams have come true when he goes to visit his brother in Columbia. Against an idyllic backdrop of blue lagoons and white beaches, he falls madly in love with Maria (Traisac) a beautiful Colombian girl. Everything seems perfect until he meets her uncle, Pablo Escobar (Del Toro).
According to RADiUS co-presidents Tom Quinn and Jason Janego: “We have been tracking this project for months and could not be more energized by Benicios outstanding performance and the star making turn by Claudia Traisac. Di Stefano has delivered the goods and we feel privileged to be working alongside him on this fantastic film.”
Di Stefano goes on to say: “To have caught the attention of a distributor like RADiUS is a dream come true for me. We are all very honoured to work with this family. Wow.. what a journey!”
Quinn, TWCs EVP, Acquisitions Dan Guando and Janego negotiated the deal with Moritz Borman and Pathe and Orange Studio.
