The trades are reporting that 20th Century Fox has made a deal to acquire a pitch that would see the story of Moses from the Bible being retold using the highly-visual green screen styles that were used in the filming of Zack Snyder’s 300. The movie is expected to cover all of the chapters of the life of Moses, including almost dying as an infant, standing up to the Pharaoh, freeing the Hebrews from slavery, the plagues, and of course, the parting of the Red Sea.
The script is being written by Adam Cooper and Bill Collage, who recently wrote a new take on the classic tale of Moby Dick with a graphic novel vibe to it that is being developed for Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov.
The question now becomes: is this the start of a popular new trend in taking classic and biblical stories and giving them the graphic novel flavor? A movie about Moses using the look of 300 would of course be beautiful, but would it be nearly as entertaining, or would it just become The Passion of the Christ filmed entirely on green screen? You know it’s not going to be ultra-violent or anything like that; just a visual treat.
No word yet on when this project may begin production, or who will direct and star.
[Source: Variety]
The story of Moses is absolutely EPIC! All the plagues, THE ANGEL OF DEATH, his confrontations with Pharoah. Think of all the egyptian scenery and how epic it would be.
It would be a great visual treat, EPIC and very entertaining IMHO.
I dont really see how you can compare this to passion of the christ though just because they are both from the bible.
Comment by scrotumbagmonkeyflicker — October 13, 2009 @ 10:08 am
I guess it wouldn’t be a big deal to have a slew of biblical stories made into movies but it gives me a bad feeling. Them religious folk are really touchy peeps. I try to be a tolerant guy. But if this means The Passion of the Christ six times over, I am going to have a stroke.
Comment by Joseph — October 13, 2009 @ 11:48 am
I think this would be a great movie. This movie is in definite need of a reboot and could be drastically improved by today’s technology. I don’t think you have to worry about Christians or Jews having an uproar as long as the story is accurate.
Comment by Ramboner — October 13, 2009 @ 8:45 pm
@scrotumbag
Where exactly was there a comparison to Passion of the Christ?
Was simply wondering whether it would have that bang that 300 had, or if they would go more biblical LIKE Passion did.
It’s also the easiest to use as an example.
Comment by The Movie God — October 13, 2009 @ 10:04 pm
My guess is that they are going to cut the movie off at around the same point as the original 10 Commandments movie. The “bloody” part of the story of the Israelite Exodus and return to their homeland does not really get started until after that point…and then it gets VERY bloody as it transitioned into a phase of Divinely Mandated genocide.
The Bible, when read fully and not just glossed over with the traditional images of Felt Sunday School story boards, is definitely rated R.
However, if you want to see a movie with a lot of action, it would need to be based around the conquering of the Holy Land by Joshua, the struggle during the time of the Judges, or focused on the time of the kings (David & Goliath).
The ultimate in action of course would be a movie based on the book of Revelation where God chooses to allow a hell-like state of affairs to develop on earth in an last-ditch effort to drive mankind to himself. It is of course punctuated by two major battles at the end of the book, both of which are won by Jesus Christ himself without any outside assistance resulting in the total slaughter of his enemies. I guess at that point people have had their chance and it’s No More Mr. Nice Jesus.
Comment by Brian MI — October 14, 2009 @ 4:35 am
“The movie is expected to cover all of the chapters of the life of Moses”
What about Numbers chapters 29-32 where Moses commits genocide against his wife’s people and orders all the little virgin girls into sex slavery?
Comment by Jonny Rico — October 14, 2009 @ 8:25 am
Jonny Rico…it’s Hollywood. They will jump at the chance to undermind the beliefs of most of middle America! And Moses doesn’t need to take orders from on high. God is Moses’s bitch. I have changed my mind completely about this film. They should roll with it. Give Moses a shotgun and some hoes. Jesus should be an alien from the future that Moses endlessly refers to as, “that sissy bitch from the future”. Good stuff.
Comment by Joseph — October 14, 2009 @ 4:52 pm