Never let it be said that director Alex Proyas didn’t have a tremendous vision for his big screen adaptation of John Milton’s epic poem of the same name, but that same ambition appears to be what has sunk Paradise Lost for good. Reports are now coming in from various outlets that the project, with a huge budget that already exceeded $120m and a vision that included technology that, as Variety’s Jeff Sneider puts it, “wasn’t there,” has been killed by Legendary Pictures. Proyas was hired for the gig back in September of 2010 and, since then, had gathered an impressive and up-and-coming cast for the epic tale of angelic battles, including Bradley Cooper, Benjamin Walker, Casey Affleck, Djimon Hounsou, Diego González Boneta, and Camilla Belle. The film’s shooting schedule was already moved from January to early this summer, but that’s all moot now that the film has been scrapped entirely.

The big screen adapation of John Milton’s epic poem “Paradise Lost” appears to be rounding out its cast in a big (and fast) way. Alex Proyas‘s film already has Bradley Cooper and Ben Walker (soon to be seen as Honest Abe in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) set to square off as the archangels Lucifer and Michael, with Djimon Hounsou on board as Abdiel (the angel of death, for those of you unfamiliar with your angels). Now Variety reports that the film may have also locked in its Gabriel, Adam, and Eve. The outlet reports that Casey Affleck is in negotiations for the role of Gabriel. The archangel is traditionally the one who communicates with humans and is sent from God to do so. He’s also the one who blows the trumpet that kicks off the end of time and the Last Judgment. He’s a fun dude! Jeff Sneider and Justin Kroll of Variety have also revealed that Diego González Boneta (a relative unknown who will next star in Rock of Ages) and Camilla Belle may join the cast as Adam and Eve. The first report says that Belle has been officially offered her role and that Boneta is the “front-runner” for his possible job.

What is Movie News After Dark? It’s a nightly movie news column, sure. But at its core, it is a hunter. A hunter of the most interesting film-related tidbits of the day. Can you feel the heat? It’s not enough for director Alex Proyas will make Paradise Lost, the story of the break between Heaven and Hell. But he’s also bringing Djimon Hounsou as the Angel of Death. If there is one actor that I look at on a consistent basis and think, “that man would bring death to me,” it’s Hounsou. It sure beats Bradley Cooper as Lucifer, so we’ll see how it shakes out.

The year was 2005 and Michael Bay was looking to try something new… Sort of. He was looking to try his hand at a genre he had never attempted before, Sci-Fi. So what did he do? Why, he surrounded himself with some of the people that do it best, of course. Some of those people being Steven Spielberg, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. And what did the combination of these four titans give us? Why, Michael Bay’s only box-office disappointment but most under rated film, The Island. I didn’t have the opportunity to catch The Island until three years later however when I was first starting to realize my passion for all things Michael Bay. But even on DVD I knew that this was a special film. It was a film that contained a little bit of everything and yet managed to make it, it’s own.

Flashy visuals and a semi-unique premise do not a great action movie make. No matter how cool your idea may be or how much money you sink into the visuals, you still need to invest in characters and story. That is the lesson to be learned from Paul McGuigan’s sci-fi thriller Push.

Columbus Rejects! Get a chance to see Push two days before it opens… for free!

The first trailer for Lucky Number Slevin director Paul McGuigan’s upcoming sci-fi thriller Push has hit the web — and boy, does it look good.

Alright, so I know this doesn’t exactly work under the “Live from Hall H” banner, as it is something that happened yesterday, but it doesn’t hurt to mention it.

The Wakandan King could be coming to the big screen relatively soon.