Choosing Lucifer

By Jon Condit
March 6th, 2007

I would really like to know why it always seems the guys with the money to get the films made are almost always the ones with little to no clue as to what makes a movie good. Luckily Phillip de Bassi and Byron Willinger are all done with pitch meetings to clueless producers to get their version of Milton’s Paradise Lost on the big screen, as a producer who’s always wanted to see it done, Vincent Newman, eventually met the duo.

In an article in the New York Times, it was revealed that the screenplay for Paradise Lost will eschew the Adam & Eve aspects of Milton’s tale to focus solely on the war in heaven, with Daniel Craig (aka the new Bond) and Heath Ledger as the top choices to play Lucifer. Personally I would call that a dream gig, but then I’m unfortunately not either actor who will likely not "get it" (similar to those aforementioned producers) when it’s brought to them.

Scott (Exorcism of Emily Rose) Derrikson (who may also be working on a remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still) is still most likely to direct the film, which is estimating a budget of around $100 million. That’s a lot of a coin for such a risky and potentially controversial film. But damn, if done well, this could be something really freaking cool.

Check out the entire article in the New York Times for even more!

- Johnny Butane