Benjamin Walker joins Paradise Lost as Michael the Archangel

It's not often you can say that a relatively unknown actor can turn down what would've been a breakthrough role in an X-men movie, and somehow trades up to something even bigger. That's exactly what Benjamin Walker did when turned down the role of Beast in X-men: First Class, and shortly thereafter snagging the lead role in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter(which just finished shooting). He also was one of the names mentioned to possibly be the face of The Bourne Legacy. But while that didn't work out, a much bigger and likely memorable role is on the horizon. Deadline reports that Walker is set to play the Archangel Michael in Paradise Lost, from director Alex Proyas(Knowing).

Bradley Cooper will play Lucifer, tempting poor Adam and Eve with his baby blues, no doubt. This is going to be a massive undertaking, an adaptation of Milton's epic 17th century blankverse poem involving the angelic war for Heaven and the ultimate fall of man. Proyas, who I thought managed some startling visual effects on a modestly budgeted Knowing, is proming we'll see the war in all it's CGI glory, and seems pretty excited about it...

Proyas: "I've sometimes thought that only an insane person would want to make this movie, because it's visually audacious and has to live up to a classic poem that is so beloved. "I don't think the visuals could have been done justice until now, which is the great fun of being a film director in this modern age of visual effects."

Shooting won't begin until January due to the massive amount of pre-production a film of this size is going to require. Don't expect to see it until maybe the last quarter of 2013.