Terry Gilliam has for the second time this year secured financing out of Europe for a large-scale production, partnering with the UK's Renaissance Films to direct $50m comic fantasy Good Omens. Renaissance has also announced that it will handle Los Alamos, a $25m romantic thriller to be directed by Nicholas Hytner.

The Gilliam picture is being adapted by the director and Tony Grisoni from Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's best-selling book. UK and US-based Marc and Peter Samuelson are co-producing with Charles Roven's US-based Atlas Entertainment. The picture, which is to shoot in the UK late 2001, tells the story of an angel and a demon sent to Earth to track down the Antichrist.

Los Alamos, which follows a murder investigation set against the race to develop the nuclear bomb, is being adapted by Laurence Dworet from Joseph Kanon's novel. Good Machine's Ted Hope and James Schamus are producing the project, which re-teams Hytner with Renaissance co-chief Stephen Evans after their collaboration on The Madness Of King George.

Renaissance's involvement in Good Omens comes after Gilliam this year secured financing from European sources including UK National Lottery franchise Pathe Pictures and France's StudioCanal for The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Also on Renaissance's slate are two pictures currently in production - Rose Troche's The Safety Of Objects and Paul McGuigan's Morality Play.