The thriller / romance has been written by actor turned writer Andrea di Stefano (Life of Pi), who is also set to make his directorial debut with the film; based on true events, Paradise Lost centres around Nick, a young surfer who visits his brother in Colombia and falls madly in love with a beautiful local girl called Maria. Their romance seems idyllic until he meets her uncle, Pablo Escobar!
One of France's top indie players, Dimitri Rassam, who is the son of famous French producer Jean-Pierre Rassam, will produce the new film. “Having Benicio Del Toro on board to play Pablo Escobar was an incredible motivation. He's one of the rare actors with enough charisma and range to play such a multi-faceted character as Escobar, who could be wonderfully charming yet dangerous and menacing." said Rassam.
But don’t get too excited as this will not be a Pablo Escobar biopic, with Rassam explaining that “the film will have a narrative structure in the vein of The Last King of Scotland, weaving Nick and Maria's romance with Nick's ambivalent and destructive relationship with Escobar”
