PRESS ASSOCIATION -- Bradley Cooper is to play Lucifer in a movie version of the classic poem Paradise Lost to be filmed in Australia.
The government of New South Wales announced that the movie will be filmed in Sydney and directed by Australian Alex Proyas, who was also at the helm of I, Robot starring Will Smith and Knowing with Nicolas Cage.
Paradise Lost, an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th century English poet John Milton, will be shot predominantly at Sydney's Fox Studios, and is targeted for release in 2013, said New South Wales' acting premier Andrew Stoner.
He said the production was lured to Sydney with financial incentives from the state government, beating competition from rival locations in the United States and Canada.
"Had we not done this it would have been opportunity lost, not Paradise Lost," he said.
Paradise Lost tells the story of Satan tempting Adam and Eve, and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.