‘Gravity’ Co-Writer Jonas Cuaron is Pulled Under the Sea Into ‘The Lost City’

Things have been going really well for Jonas Cuaron lately. Gravity, co-written and directed by his father Alfonso, has seen tremendous success at the box office since its October 4th release. The film broke the record for the biggest October weekend opening ever, went on to retain its number one spot the following weekend, and, as of October 16th, has gone on to gross $204 million worldwide. In the wake of Gravity, Jonas Cuaron has found himself a busy man, directing a feature starring Gael Garcia Bernal, and now Variety reports that Cuaron just signed on to take up screenwriting duties on The Lost City.

The Lost City is reported to take place in the mythical underwater city of Atlantis, and in a way that we haven’t seen before. This is a win-win for Warner Bros., who most-likely wanted to work with Cuaron on another project right away. With his experience capturing suspense in the life-threatening environment of space, he seems a perfect fit to find drama in the deepest reaches of the ocean.

According to Variety, Jonas had been Warner’s choice for some time, but there was conflicts with Cuaron’s next directing gig – Desierto. That film is going to see Jonas and Alfonso work together again, with Alfonso in a producing capacity, along with Jonas’ uncle Carlos Cuaron. Production on Desierto starts early next year.

Jonas has been around film for most of his life. His father, Alfonso Cuaron, had worked at Televisa, a Mexican television company. By the time Jonas was 10, his father Alfonso had secured financing for his first full-length feature film, Solo Con Tu Pareja which he co-wrote with Jonas’ uncle, Carlos Cuaron. While Jonas merely only had a cameo in the film he would go on to work as a staff assistant on his father’s first American feature film, A Little Princess. Jonas went on to study film at Vassar College, and in 2007 he went on to write, direct, and produce his first feature film, Ano Una (Year of the Nail).

The Lost City is not to be confused with The Lost City of Z, a similar quest for for the mythic, though one that is based on a true story and features a quest for an ancient city in the Amazon rainforest rather than the lost civilization of Atlantis.