Just a couple of weeks ago, Total Film caught up with Bradley Cooper at Sundance 2012, where he talked excitedly about playing the Devil in a movie version of Paradise Lost. Sadly, it looks like he'll be waiting around for a while.

Director Alex Proyas' movie version of John Milton's epic poem already looked to be in trouble earlier this year when its January 2012 shooting date was pushed back to the summer.

Now it looks like Paradise Lost has been shelved for good. The decision was made by financiers Legendary, who were attempting to squeeze the film's budget down to a more manageable $120m.

Deadline report that the expensive visuals effects are mostly to blame, with hope that Lost could get resurrected sometime in the future when SFX are less costly.

Paradise Lost is just the latest in a number of extravagant films given the kibosh thanks to corporate bean-counters - Arthur & Lancelot and The Lone Ranger were both stalled over budgetary concerns.

With Lost sounding like the definition of the word 'epic', it's a massive disappointment to hear that we won't get to see it for a very long time - if ever. Fingers crossed that Proyas and Cooper keep fighting for it. Source: www.totalfilm.com

Casey Affleck to play angel Gabriel in Paradise Lost [25th September 2011 06:49:43]

He's often at his best playing eerily sinister roles, but Casey Affleck is in negotiations to star as one of the ultimate good guys in the new movie take on John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost.

Affleck is in line to play Gabriel, an angel who joins forces with Michael (Benjamin Walker) in the ultimate battle with Lucifer (Bradley Cooper), after the fallen one launches a full-scale assault on God.

You can banish any memories of interminable English literature lessons though, as this is going to be a 3D action epic as opposed to a boring sermon.

Alex Proyas (The Crow, Dark City, Knowing) is directing and the shoot is expected to begin in January 2012 in Sydney.

Deadline are also reporting that Camilla Belle (The Ballad Of Jack And Rose, 10,000 BC) has signed on to play Eve, of 'Adam and?' fame, in a storyline that runs parallel to the angelic warfare.

It's interesting that Proyas seems to be largely casting against type (it would have been more obvious were Cooper and Affleck's roles switched) so it'll be interesting to see the results.

Paradise Lost is expected to open in late 2013. Casey Affleck will next be seen in Brett Ratner's Tower Heist. Source: www.totalfilm.com

Djimon Hounsou will become the Angel of Death [23rd August 2011 01:44:34]

Casting continues apace for the upcoming adaptation of Paradise Lost, with Djimon Hounsou the latest star to sign on the dotted line. According to Variety, the Gladiator actor has agreed to play Abdiel, the Angel of Death.

Based upon the epic poem by John Milton, the film follows the celestial struggle between fallen angel Lucifer and his goody two-shoes nemesis Michael.

Lucifer is peeved at God's newfound love for humanity, and decides the time is right to kick the old boy out of Heaven. Michael on the other hand thinks differently, and when the rival archangels go to war, all hell breaks loose. Quite literally.

Bradley Cooper will play the resentful Lucifer, whilst Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter's Benjamin Walker is to play Michael. Hounsou's character brings word of Lucifer's plan to overthrow heaven to the man upstairs, only to find out He already knows. He usually does, doesn't He?

The film will be directed by The Crow's Alex Proyas, a seemingly suitable choice to bring Milton's gothic landscape to life. The film will begin filming later this year, with Proyas set to employ performance-capture technology to portray the various heavenly bodies. Naturally, the film will also be presented in 3D.

It all sounds fairly epic to us, even if we remain a little bemused at the choice of Cooper for Lucifer. Hounsou seems a solid pick for Abdiel however, and the performance-capture element is certainly intriguing.

We'll have to wait a while to get a look at it though ? the film is currently slated for release in late 2013. Source: www.totalfilm.com