Alex Proyas is directing a movie again. A real one, sort of, with an Oscar-nominated star, a Nicholas Kazan script and a sales push at AFM.
Per Variety, Proyas has taken over directing duties on “Cortés,” a historical epic starring Antonio Banderas as Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés. Cameras started rolling in Europe a few weeks ago with French filmmaker Paul Mignot at the helm. Mignot is now out of the director’s chair, and nobody knows why.
The “Cortés” story kicks off in 1519 Cuba, where Cortés, a glory-hungry soldier, grabs command of an expedition to the Yucatán and sets sail without authorization. Once he lands on the Mexican coast, he meets Marina, an enslaved Indigenous woman and brilliant linguist who becomes essential to his campaign — and who watches him turn from renegade into something closer to a self-declared messiah as he weaponizes shaky alliances, religion and fear.
“Cortés” is written by Oscar nominee Nicholas Kazan (“Reversal of Fortune”), with Utopai Studios and Ex Machina Studios co-financing and co-producing. Kazan has reportedly been trying to get this one made for over 30 years, only to be told again and again that it was too big and too expensive.
This is the part that’s bugging me. The Deadline report calls “Cortés” an “AI-enabled” film and then just... moves on. Nobody explains what that means. One look at Utopai’s site makes the plan clearer: shoot the actors’ performances for real, then place them inside digitally generated environments. Kinda like what Doug Liman did with his upcoming Bitcoin movie. I presume the Aztec Empire around Banderas will be largely built by AI. Utopai pitches it as a way to beat the cost and scale problems that kept the script on the shelf.
Now let’s back up a little. Proyas used to be a thing. “Dark City” remains one of the more memorable sci-fi films of the ’90s. “The Crow” is a cult classic. “I, Robot” made a fortune. “Knowing” has its defenders (Roger Ebert thought it was a masterpiece). Then came “Gods of Egypt” in 2016, a reported $140M Lionsgate bomb that earned him the Razzie for Worst Director and prompted Proyas to call critics “diseased vultures” on Facebook. He hasn’t released a film since.
Back in 2024, Proyas signed on to direct “R.U.R.,” his adaptation of Karel Čapek’s 1920 robot play, which was set to be his first film in eight years. It was shot in Sydney in late 2024. Two years later? It still hasn’t surfaced. Screen Australia still lists it as in post-production.
Which means that a full decade after “Gods of Egypt,” “Cortés” could realistically be the first new Proyas feature most people actually see. Deadline calls it his highest-profile movie since that film. Sure, but the AI angle will be a tough sell for many.
James Gray has never been one to bite his tongue, especially about Cannes, a festival he's had a love-hate relationship with for decades, and he’s certainly not about to start now.