SALON

Monday, Mar 18, 2013 1:12 PM UTC

Christian Bale tapped to play Moses in Ridley Scott’s “Exodus”

Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox are competing to create a big-budget retelling of the biblical epic

By

Topics: christian bale, ridley scott, exodus, moses, The Bible, Movies, Film,

Christian Bale tapped to play Moses in Ridley Scott's (Credit: s_bukley / Shutterstock.com)

The race is on between Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox, who are competing to produce two big-budget movies both set around the Bible. While the Warner Bros. project, “Gods and Kings,” remains without a director (the film just lost legendary director Steven Spielberg, though “Life of Pi” director Ang Lee may take over), however, Fox’s “Exodus,” directed by Ridley Scott, is already in its casting phase.

Deadline is reporting that “Batman” trilogy actor Christian Bale has been tapped to play the film’s lead, Moses. Talks between Bale and producers are still in early stages, however. Steve Zaillian, the screenwriter for Scott’s “American Gangster,” will rewrite the script originally penned by Adam Cooper and Bill Collage.

Deadline speculates as to why the production studios are suddenly so focused on the story of the Bible:

“Fox and Paramount have surely noticed the ratings on History Channel’s ‘The Bible’ miniseries. There is certainly a global audience for a retelling of the Moses story with the technological advancements made since Charlton Heston played him in the 1956 ’Ten Commandments,’ a film that was one of the biggest blockbusters of its time.”

And, though thematically related, the two films will have very different treatments. From the Guardian:

“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, meanwhile, was expected to plump for a detailed reworking which would focus on the minutiae of his subject’s life, such as the leader’s relationship with Pharaoh Rameses II, as well as more famous episodes.”

 

Prachi Gupta is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on pop culture. Follow her on Twitter at @prachigu or email her at pgupta@salon.com. More Prachi Gupta.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 1 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations