Bradley Cooper has officially signed on to play Lucifer in director Alex Proyas‘s Paradise Lost. The Associated Press confirmed Bradley Cooper‘s casting after officials in Australia began touting the project which they expect to bring more than 1300 jobs and 88 million dollars to their country when production begins in early 2012.
Paradise Lost is based on the legendary verse poem by John Milton and tells the story of Adam and Eve and their temptation by the devil and the war for Heaven. Though Lucifer is supposedly the villain of Paradise Lost many scholars have taken Milton’s portrayal of Satan as that of an anti-hero through which Milton criticized Christian mythology without angering the church leaders of 1667.
While there is no word as to whether 3D will be incorporated, we do know that Proyas does plan on including motion capture.
Bradley Cooper will begin work on Paradise Lost in Australia early next year after finishing production on The Place Beyond the Pines which is currently beginning production in upstate New York. In the film, Bradley Cooper plays a cop who rises to be a politician while crossing paths with a blue collar worker turned criminal played by Ryan Gosling. Blue Valentine director Derek Cianfrance wrote the script and is helming the project which also stars Eva Mendes, Greta Gerwig and Ray Liotta.
Bradley Cooper recently wrapped production on the dramatic thriller The Words co-starring Olivia Wilde, Zoe Saldana and Dennis Quaid. Cooper played a writer who may or may not have plagiarized another writer’s work and finds his life turned upside down when his work becomes a success. No official release date has been announced for The Words.
Casting is still underway on Paradise Lost for the pivotal role of the Archangel Michael who will oppose Bradley Cooper‘s Lucifer in the war for heaven. The film will also needs Adam, Eve, God the Father and the Son of God before production begins in early 2012 with a hopeful 2013 release.