By Legendary Pictures have succeeded in doing what Beelzebub couldn’t: Paradise Lost, Alex Proyas’ adaptation of John Milton’s epic poem, has been shut down after a troubled pre-production. Bradley Cooper, Casey Affleck, Diego Boneta, Camilla Belle and Benjamin Walker were attached to star. It was reportedly the visual effects which pushed the budget beyond what the studio were willing to risk, which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise given how Milton’s poem encompasses all of creation, including the battle for Heaven between God’s angels and Satan’s hellish minions.
I’m not terribly sad about the loss of the movie (apart from for the now unemployed crew), since quite frankly, a work of this magnitude deserves a more proven level of talent than was attached at any stage, but it would have at least been interesting to see how Proyas, known for visually rich movies, interpreted the text cinematically. The producers will reportedly continue working on ways to get the film’s budget under control, in the hope of finding (yes) a miracle.
[via Deadline]