Djimon Hounsou will become the Angel of Death

Casting continues apace for the upcoming adaptation of Paradise Lost , with Djimon Hounsou the latest star to sign on the dotted line. According to Variety , the Gladiator actor has agreed to play Abdiel, the Angel of Death.

Based upon the epic poem by John Milton, the film follows the celestial struggle between fallen angel Lucifer and his goody two-shoes nemesis Michael.

Lucifer is peeved at God’s newfound love for humanity, and decides the time is right to kick the old boy out of Heaven. Michael on the other hand thinks differently, and when the rival archangels go to war, all hell breaks loose. Quite literally.

Bradley Cooper will play the resentful Lucifer, whilst Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter ’s Benjamin Walker is to play Michael. Hounsou’s character brings word of Lucifer’s plan to overthrow heaven to the man upstairs, only to find out He already knows. He usually does, doesn’t He?

The film will be directed by The Crow ’s Alex Proyas, a seemingly suitable choice to bring Milton’s gothic landscape to life. The film will begin filming later this year, with Proyas set to employ performance-capture technology to portray the various heavenly bodies. Naturally, the film will also be presented in 3D.

It all sounds fairly epic to us, even if we remain a little bemused at the choice of Cooper for Lucifer. Hounsou seems a solid pick for Abdiel however, and the performance-capture element is certainly intriguing.

We’ll have to wait a while to get a look at it though – the film is currently slated for release in late 2013.

George was once GamesRadar's resident movie news person, based out of London. He understands that all men must die, but he'd rather not think about it. But now he's working at Stylist Magazine.