Yes! We can already see Christian Bale decked out in a toga to play Moses in Ridley Scott’s “Exodus.” Deadline.com is reporting that 20th Century Fox is moving forward with the retelling of the Biblical hero’s story.
Bale is tapped to star in the film, which is being penned by Scott’s “American Gangster” screenwriter Steve Zaillian. The project will likely be Scott’s next after he wraps work on “The Counselor,” his upcoming thriller based on novelist Cormac McCarthy’s debut screenplay.
Meanwhile at Warner Bros., Steven Spielberg’s Moses film was previously described as an epic biopic of the Israelite leader in a gritty “Braveheart”-meets-“Saving-Private-Ryan” style. Scott’s project is said to focus on the smaller details of Moses’ life, like his relationship with Pharaoh Rameses II.
You wonder if the success of History Channel’s “The Bible” is spurring these Biblical projects forward. But is there room for two big-budget movies about Moses? In 2004, Baz Luhrmann’s Alexander the Great biopic was ditched after Oliver Stone’s “Alexander” hit theaters. With the massive amounts of cash to bring these films to the big screen, it’s likely that one might be ditched if the other is predicted to be the frontrunner at the box office.
Of course, no retelling of the story will rival Cecil B. DeMille’s 1956 epic, “The Ten Commandments,” starring Charlton Heston in the lead role. It received seven Academy award nominations including best picture, and also won the Oscar for best visual effects, thanks in part to that parting of the Red Sea scene. It was also the highest-grossing film of its era.
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