Saturday, April 22, 2006

Paradise Lost Greenlighted

Paradise Lost: John Milton's epic poem from 1667 has shaped and created much of the Western perceptions about Satan, God and the fall of man.

Now it's been greenlighted for a $100 million film adaptation directed by Scott Derrickson (director of "The Exorcism of Emily Rose"). (See here).

I wish they wouldn't make this film because of the complexities associated with the fact that the Paradise Lost crew will make decisions that will largely effect how people view and picture this spiritual events and issues, further establishing a non-cannonical interpreted cliff notes to the biblical story.

I am also very curious who they would cast in this film for the gutsy and interesting part of Satan. Satan's role is a strange one as he the central charcter, the protagonist. Satan is the one trying to overcome his own fears. This is a character that has complexity and intrigue...while God's character is rather flat in comparison (God is not neccesarily boring, just not in crisis the way that Satan is).

I kind of picture the part going to Christopher Walken. But what about Willem Dafoe, Colm Feore, Peter Sarsgaard, Johnny Depp, or Tim Robbins.

Related Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

This sounds like a very, very bad idea!

I'm not overly familiar with Scott Derricksons' work but I didn't think "Emily Rose" was that good!

Anonymous said...

It does sound like a bad idea. You can't make it into a movie. If they are going to do anything, which they shouldn't, it should be a miniseries. In a film, they are going to cut things out, twist it into what they want it to mean, etc.

Anonymous said...

I don't see any reason NOT to be excited about this project, RC. This film has amazing potential for engaging culture and encouraging spiritual discussion. While I am certainly no expert of Paradise Lost, I am looking forward to this project.

You mentioned on my blog that "I don’t know about you’re (sic) excitement…this is a very challenging and unique project…" Your thoughts seem to suggest that because a project seems "challenging and unique" it shouldn't be attempted, which saddens me - there is so much great art out there (not just movies) that never would have been created with this mindset.

Mimi Fink said...

Great! Another literary classic to be slaughtered on Hollywood's cinematic altar.

Oh, thanks for visiting my blog, RC.

Anonymous said...

thanks for visiting my corner of blogger! i had a great time at the arts festival, but then i always do.

i found this post interesting, because i am reading paradise lost right now. i know it's a classic, and i had seen it referenced as a favorite work of many of my favorite characters in fiction, so i decided to take a stab at it. maybe i'll have an opinion on turning it into a film later.

MT said...

Figures. Who ever greenlighted it is chasing Phillip Pullman's "His Dark Materials." So I think we have JK Rowling to thank for Paradise Lost. Although there was "Dogma" in 1999.

MT said...

Whoops: Just one L in "Philip".