By Milton’s Paradise Lost is the epic poem to end all epic poetry, covering Satan’s fall from grace following his lost battle for the dominion of heaven, and his jealousy and obsession with corrupting God’s greatest creation: mankind. After being published in 1667, the poem was considered blasphemous for presenting Satan as a sympathetic figure, for questioning the idea that marriage should involve a man dominating a woman, and for challenging the religious emphasis on idolatry and rulers appointed by Divine Right rather than a direct and pure faith. Naturally, Hollywood’s got plans to adapt it for the screen with an ‘action-heavy’ orientation.
Making matters all the more jaw-dropping is that not only is Knowing‘s Alex Proyas set to direct, but Satan will be played by Bradley Cooper. Yes, Hangover‘s Bradley Cooper, playing one of the most complex roles in the history of the written word. Granted, he made our very own Liz Rugg go a bit gooey when speaking French in an interview, but beyond the seductiveness, none of Cooper’s performances have hinted at the inner torment and furious jealousy which propels many of the characters’ choices and actions.
The header image is the first officially released piece of concept art, with the movie set to release sometime in 2013 – if the world hasn’t ended by then, and if this is what we’ve got to look forward to, let’s hope – offering a glimpse at how the filmmakers will be presenting their vision of Satan. My feeling is that the best we can hope for from this is Proyas going as nuts as he did with the end of Knowing, which was so totally insane it almost – almost – redeemed an otherwise awful movie. I wouldn’t give this one a prayer, though. Follow the jump for some (low-res) landscape artwork which /Film captured from a Comic Con screen.
[Legendary blog, via /Film]
