'Paradise Lost' Adaptation Lands 'Crow' Director Alex Proyas

http://blog.moviefone.com/2010/09/16/paradise-lost-alex-proyas/

By Monika Bartyzel (Subscribe to Monika Bartyzel's posts)
Posted Sep 16th 2010 2:20PM

If you're a long-time Cinematical reader, you might remember that, back in 2007, word hit that John Milton's epic poem 'Paradise Lost' was getting the feature treatment. After going through some rewrites and finally getting picked up by Vincent Newman and Legendary Pictures, the project seemed to be on track, and was even looking for some big-name talent to play that famous fallen angel named Lucifer -- namely, Daniel Craig and Heath Ledger.

Now, many years have passed, one potential star has passed away (a true shame, as Ledger's talents would have been perfect for this theme) and the project is once again gaining steam over at Legendary. Some of the news might offer points of worry; but with this director on board, there's some great potential for the project. The whole affair will be directed by Alex Proyas, the man behind 'The Crow' and 'Dark City.'
Variety reports that Proyas has signed on to direct 'Paradise Lost,' an adaptation of Milton's 17th century English poem. In case you're not well-versed in Milton, the poem details the fall of man as Adam and Eve are expelled from the Garden of Eden, and the epic war between archangels Michael and Lucifer. The plan for this project is to do away with much of the Adam and Eve portions of the poem, and focus in on the war -- because, as we all know, nudity is bad and violence is good!

Purists won't be happy to hear that this is being primed as an action vehicle, possibly in 3-D ("possibly" ... as if any studio can refuse the temptation at this point), but for once I'm not scared by the idea. This could be a mess, or a joy, but either way, it should be one beautiful adventure. Just imagine the world of 'Dark City' all those years ago, and then imagine it with an epic war of angels fighting each other in the air. Oh yes, Variety made sure to note that the film will "include aerial warfare," and the archangels weren't flying around on jets or zipping about in fighter planes.

But even with the best effects, you need the right actors to make this feature shine. So before Legendary falls on the wooden Worthington bandwagon, let's give them some other possibilities. Who would you like to see as Lucifer, Michael, and the rest of the warring contingent?

I'll kick things off with the most obvious, and quite possibly best choice: Michael Fassbender.