Eight-time Oscar nominee Hollywood star Bradley Cooper will be launching a new production banner, reports suggest.
According to Deadline, at the same time, Cooper and Weston Middleton under the new label are set to produce ‘Hyperion’ based on the four-volume series of Dan Simmons novels, a project Cooper has had long in the works. ‘Hyperion’ has now moved over from TV’s Syfy to Warner Bros. motion pictures with Oscar-winner Graham King still attached to produce under his GK Films.
Previously conceived as a limited series for Syfy, ‘Hyperion’ will now be adapted as a feature by Tom Spezialy, the Emmy-winning EP of HBO’s limited series Watchmen. The search for a director is underway.
The change-up in adapting the IP as a movie instead of a limited series is to provide the IP with more breadth and scope that the expansive story actually demands.
Published by Bantam Spectra, the ‘Hyperion Cantos’ series includes ‘Hyperion’ (1989), ‘The Fall of Hyperion’ (1990), ‘Endymion’ (1996) and ‘The Rise of Endymion’ (1997).
The books are set 700 years after the death of Old Earth, where the entire galaxy is at war. Seven strangers set forth on a journey to unlock the mysteries of the planet Hyperion’s Time Tombs, each convinced that they alone carry the key to saving humanity.
On behalf of GK films, executive producer Hayley King will oversee the project.
Cooper had a six-year deal with Todd Phillips and Warner Bros that concluded in 2019 with back-to-back commercial and critically acclaimed films. There was ‘A Star Is Born’ nominated for eight Oscars including Cooper for Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor, which grossed USD 436M worldwide.
There also was Joker, which became the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever making USD 1.07 billion and notching 11 Oscar nominations including Cooper for Best Picture and two Oscar wins for Joaquin Phoenix (Best Actor) and Hildur Gudnadottir (Best Original Score).
Cooper was also Oscar-nominated in the 2015 Best Picture category and Best Actor for Clint Eastwood’s highest-grossing feature, ‘American Sniper’, which made USD 547.4M global. In addition, he received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for 2013’s ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ and an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor in 2014’s ‘American Hustle’.
Phillips has been with Warner Brothers since 2005, beginning with ‘Starsky & Hutch’ through his USD 1.4 billion-grossing ‘The Hangover’ franchise, and remains on the Burbank lot.
Cooper and Middleton are working on a name of their new production label.
As per Deadline, Cooper has a first-look deal with Netflix, where he is making his new film, ‘Maestro’, which is currently in the pre-production stage. Middleton has previously served as the associate producer on ‘A Star Is Born’. King, a four-time Oscar nominee, won Best Picture for 2007’s ‘The Departed’.
