Black Phone Director Reveals Concept Art For Unmade Adaptation Of Iconic 17th Century Epic

The Black Phone director Scott Derrickson unearths a selection of concept art pieces for his vision of John Milton's 17th-century epic Paradise Lost from his scrapped adaptation. Alongside the 2021 horror feature, Derrickson led many well-known modern features within franchises, including Sinister, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and the MCU's Doctor Strange. Milton's poem is a biblical epic exploring the fall of Lucifer from Heaven, and the following corruption he wrecks on Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

While Derrickson has taken a break from the darker explorations of humanity for his upcoming romantic comedy The Gorge, the director took to his personal X account to share a selection of newly unearthed pieces from his scrapped attempted adaptation of Paradise Lost.

In his first tweet, the artwork was focused on establishing the vision of Heaven, a realm composed of sweeping pathways in the clouds. Each piece explored the process of Lucifer's fall and the War in Heaven that would lead to his banishment.

The second tweet explored the development of Lucifer following his fall. These pieces depicted his rise to the throne of hell, alongside the dawn of Mankind with the creation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

What This Means For Scott Derrickson's Scrapped Paradise Lost

The War In Heaven Would Have Been A Battle Worth Middle-Earth

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Despite many projects heavily alluding to or being inspired by Milton's work, few creatives have attempted to bring the poem to the screen, and so far none have successfully wrapped such a production. Derrickson's production would have begun in 2004, with Legendary Pictures at the helm. Rather than focusing on the corruption of Man, the movie would instead focus on Lucifer's fall in the War in Heaven, while being envisioned as akin to The Lord of the Rings movies. The script initially penned by Philip de Blasi and Byron Willinger would see revisions from Stuart Hazeldine, Lawrence Kasdan, and Ryan Condal before Derrickson joined the project.

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With its focus on Lucifer's fall, other concept art shared by Derrickson in 2023 would showcase his vision of what the fallen angel would look like. In the artwork, Lucifer transforms from a pale figure with ornate gold, illustrating a horned, sharp, gray inhuman beast. However, Paradise Lost's creatives would ultimately lose their confidence in the project, especially in the face of potential controversy, closing the book on this attempt.

Our Thoughts On Paradise Lost's Newly Discovered Concept Art

Legendary's Vision May Have Been Too Much For A Potential Controversial Tale

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It is clear how the production was keen on evoking the spectacle of the Lord of the Rings. Each piece sets out the large, sweeping scale of the story not too dissimilar from Peter Jackson's movie trilogy in terms of its vision of epic fights on large vistas. However, Derrickson's War in Heaven would take the conflict to far more unearthly realms, truly setting itself apart.

However, this spectacle can also explain why this project may have been shuttered, as those behind the production acknowledged the potential controversy. The FX-heavy production could have been costly if the critiques led to it underperforming. Despite its unfortunate fate and Derrickson returning to more Earth-bound horrors in productions including The Black Phone, the newly unveiled Paradise Lost adaptation's concept art is sure to ignite many potential imaginations.

Source: Scott Derrickson/X