PROJECT DETAILS:

More than a decade later, it looks like this project is back in development. The studio has set Roger Avary (writer for True Romance, Pulp Fiction, Silent Hill, Beowulf) to write and direct and will be working closely with emerging AI-oriented production company Ex Machina Studios. The issue with the project moving forward in the past involved the ever-expanding budget that would be required to bring the film to life. Avary and Ex Machina reportedly believe that the help of AI can make the undertaking more manageable. It's said that the AI will help the "expansive worlds to be realized at a responsible budget while preserving the primacy of real actors, human-authored narratives, and guild-aligned production practices." Avary was quoted saying: "Beowulf was a revisionist reimagining made on a massive budget, but with Paradise Lost I’m taking a more faithful approach at a fraction of the cost, using cutting-edge generative AI to bring Milton’s vision to life in ways unimaginable just a few years ago. This project brings together everything I’ve learned as a filmmaker and proves that powerful storytelling doesn’t require blockbuster budgets, but the right tools and team. Partnering with Ex Machina and Marco Weber, we’ve created something I believe will move audiences, spark conversations, and remind us why we tell stories in the first place — to wrestle with what it means to be human in the face of the divine. I’m grateful for the opportunity to share it with the world." (4/29/26)

The project has officially been pulled from the development slate. Apparently the studio just couldn't deal with the requirements that would be needed to bring forth proper effects for many of the epic battles we would've seen. With the budget already at $120-million, they simply couldn't afford such a risk. No word if it'll ever be picked up again (possibly by a different studio) but right now it looks like it's not happening. (2/9/12)

Despite filming aimed to begin in January 2012 in Australia, the studio has decided to put the project on temporary hold while they rework the script to bring down the already massive budget. Apparently with all the visual effects and green screen work that was to be done, the budget was going 10% to 15% over the $120-million dollar budget. (12/13/11)

Diego Boneta and Camilla Belle were at one point going to play "Adam and Eve."

Dominic Purcell was going to play "Moloch, a former angel who, after falling, sides with Lucifer in the battle against heaven."

Callan McAuliffe would have played "Uriel, one of the first seven archangels created by God."

Casey Affleck was originally going to play Gabriel, "the chief of the angelic guards who watch over Paradise."

Actor Rufus Sewell was going to play "Sammael" when director Alex Proyas was still attached.

Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond, Push) was going to play "Abdiel, the angel of death."

Bradley Cooper (The Hangover) was once attached to play Lucifer.

Director Alex Proyas (The Crow, Dark City) was once attached to direct.

At one point the studio played with the idea of this being in 3D.

Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose,  Sinister,  Deliver Us from Evil) was attached to direct in 2008.

Described as an "action vehicle that will include aerial warfare."

Based on the poem by John Milton.