With only a month left until its scheduled January start, the epic adaptation of PARADISE LOST has been put on hold, reports Deadline.com. Legendary Pictures got skittish about the ballooning budget, which is now 15-20% over $120 million. The project is not dead yet though. Legendary’s Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni and producer Vincent Newman are working to bring the budget down. The studio hopes to get into production in late spring or early summer.

Based on John Milton's epic poem, the story follows the war between angels set against the tale of Adam and Eve. The cast includes Bradley Cooper (Lucifer), Benjamin Walker (archangel Michael), Diego Boneta (Adam), Camilla Belle (Eve), Casey Affleck (Gabriel) and Djimon Hounsou (angel of death Abdiel).

Alex Proyas is directing. Byron Willinger and Philip de Blasi penned the first draft. Stuart Hazeldine provided the most substantial rewrite with polishes from Lawrence Kasdan and Ryan Condal.

Warner Bros. will distribute the epic production.