ParadiseLost Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I may have suggested once that Hansel and Gretel head for the big screen, but I never imagined it would be as witch hunters. The Hollywood Reporter posts that Norwegian writer/director Tommy Wirkola is cooking up Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, for Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's Sanchez Prods. to produce. Set 15 years after the incident at the tasty house, Hansel and Gretel are now "specialized bounty hunters looking to put down the cackling black-hat set."

McKay says: "It's a hybrid sort of old-timey feeling, yet there's pump-action shotguns. Modern technology but in an old style. We heard it and we were just like, 'That's a freakin' franchise! You could make three of those!' " Hansel and Gretel, the franchise. That'd be the day! Hold onto your hats though -- Wirkola is still working on the outline, so we've got a long wait ahead.

Meanwhile, it's time for dueling Paradise Lost features. Two years ago, a feature was in the works that would focus on the war of Milton's epic poem, while leaving in enough religion to appeal to faith audiences. Now THR not only states that the project is still in the works for Warner Bros., but that an indie version is now gearing up. Veteran producer Martin Poll is moving ahead with the feature that he started pitching back in the '60s. Talk about determination!

He wrote a script with the late John Collier, kept renewing the option, and now STV Networks is biting. David Dunham and Patricia Li Bryan are set to play Adam and Eve, and they're currently looking for a star to play Satan, and a director to helm the thing. I know I just wowed over him playing a god in Clash of the Titans, but Danny Huston would make one charismatic devil. Who would you cast?

We've got a million Shakespeare adaptations, and now it is time for a little John Milton. His epic poem, Paradise Lost, is gearing up for the big screen. Well, some parts of it are. A few years ago, novice screenwriters Philip DiBlasi and Byron Willinger were shopping around their adaptation of the poem, which has since been re-written by Stuart Hazeldine. Now, Vincent Newman has bought the script, which will be co-financed by Legendary Pictures. While no cast is yet on-board, he's itching for Daniel Craig or Heath Ledger to play the famous fallen angel named Lucifer. Craig has already kiboshed rumors of joining I, Lucifer, so we'll have to wait and see if this is more up his alley.

Newman has stated: "if you get past the Milton of it all, and think about the greatest war that's ever been fought, the story itself is pretty compelling." The plan is to have "less Adam and Eve and more about what's happening with the archangels." That's right, it's gearing up to not be an epic re-telling of a classic poem, but more of an adaptation that takes out the blank verse and leaves the warring action. The producer is also concerned with the nudity of Adam and Eve, so I wouldn't be surprised if the film becomes just the 'war on God'. Personally, it seems like a good time to challenge that worry, rather than uphold the violence = good, body = bad mentality. Regardless, it's sounding more like an action fanboy re-imagining than a cinematic adaptation.

Scott Derrickson, who directed Hellraiser: Inferno and The Exorcism of Emily Rose might helm the feature, which really secures it as a religious horror/war movie. All of this aside, the hope is to still keep it faithful to theological writings so that, as Hazeldine states: "I wanted to make sure that for the faith audience, I guess, that they will see it more as The Passion of the Christ than The Last Temptation of Christ." That's a bit of a leap, considering the fact that Paradise is not a religious text, but a fictional poem. With so many changes and concerns, I don't see why they don't just make their own story, rather than hacking up a classic epic.