Christian Bale Courted To Part The Red Sea As Moses In Ridley Scott's 'Exodus'

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by Kevin Jagernauth
March 15, 2013 2:05 PM
9 Comments

With Steven Spielberg leaving "Gods And Kings," the developing Moses movie over at Warner Bros (they're now keen on getting Ang Lee to take over), Fox isn't wasting a minute to try and beat them to the punch. You may have forgotten, but among the many, many, many, many, many, many, many projects Ridley Scott has on his plate is a Moses movie of his own. Apparently, this one is gaining fresh heat thanks to Steve Zaillian's rewrite, and Fox has their eye on a leading man.

Indeed, they want Batman himself to grow back his Bruce-Wayne-in-exile beard to play the titular Bible figure. Titled "Exodus," the first script from Adam Cooper and Bill Collage was described as "a visually stunning action piece" not unlike "300." Whether or not that's still the plan remains to be seen, but Zaillian's participation at least lends the hope that it will be a bit smarter than that. The screenwriter worked with Scott on another true-life tale, "American Gangster," and while Bale has yet to be directed by him, he does star in the Scott-produced "Out Of The Furnace."

"What's interesting to me about Moses isn't the big stuff that everybody knows. It's things like his relationship with Ramses [II, the pharaoh]. I honestly wasn't paying attention in school when I was told the story of Moses. Some of the details of his life are extraordinary," Scott said about the movie last year.

Right now, it's not much more than Fox "courting" Bale, and the actor is currently busy with David O. Russell's Abscam movie, while Scott still needs to finish "The Counselor." So this isn't immediate anyway. Our guess? Fox want to make sure they have a big A-list star before they flip the switch. But with Paramount bringing Darren Aronofsky's "Noah" next spring, the competition won't want to wait too long to surf what will inevitably be a wave of Bible-based movies. [Deadline]

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More: Christian Bale, Moses, Steven Zaillian, Ridley Scott

9 Comments

| Reply
DHE | March 17, 2013 11:51 AMReply

Wouldn't it be fascinating if this somehow tied into Prometheus?
cole | March 15, 2013 11:39 PMReply

Christian Bale is one of the best actors in Hollywood. Good casting choice. I hope he will not be replaced by someone else like in Noah.
waylon | March 16, 2013 3:50 AM

Lets hope that Terrence Malick wont swoop in with another douple feature.
eric | March 15, 2013 10:02 PMReply

would rather him be in the Aronofsky Moses movie but oh well still will be a great performance.
rodie | March 15, 2013 5:13 PMReply

Tom Hardy for Pharoah!
Mio | March 15, 2013 6:02 PM

Only if he wears a mask and speeks in an almost incomprehensible way.
ASH | March 15, 2013 2:52 PMReply

PERFECT CASTING DECISION.
caro | March 15, 2013 2:27 PMReply

apparently Hollywood wants that Bale acts a biblical character (he was Jesus in a tv movie in 2000,Aronofsky wanted Bale as Noah)
Jack | March 15, 2013 2:12 PMReply

Grow that beard Christian.