Considering his (nearly) total absence from screens these past four years — while also taking into account his new, apparent fear of going outside the franchise realm — it makes perfect sense that Will Smith would only now weigh other avenues of the film business. And I’m not talking about producing movies for his son, either.

Actors from Hancock Signing for Their Directing Debuts Week continues, with Deadline reporting that Smith plans to helm a film centered on Cain and Abel, tentatively titled The Redemption of Cain, for Sony and Overbrook Entertainment; with the right things in place, he’ll also be starring, presumably as one of the trend-setting siblings.

Even for the Bible neophytes, this one’s general plot shouldn’t be so hard to figure out. Adam and Eve’s two sons can’t get along, Cain becomes the first murderer & Abel the first murder victim, and their story is used as the basis for many on-the-nose metaphors and allegories throughout the history of storytelling.

Unless, that is, Smith hasn’t abandoned a vampiric side this project once had. It’s possible you don’t remember, but, back in July of 2010, the actor signed for The Legend of Cain — note the similarity between past and current titles, too — a gothic, bloodier take on this classic Biblical tale. (Caleeb Pinkett, Daniel Knauf [Carnivale], and Andrea Berloff [World Trade Center] all had their hands on the screenplay at various points, though proper credits are not being supplied at the moment.)

Deadline’s story doesn’t say if this has been retained or jettisoned — keep it, keep it, keep it — but, experience on I Am Legend potentially notwithstanding, it’s still an unexpected project for Smith, let alone any inexperienced voice, to take their first stab at directing with. For the moment, I can say this much: With any luck, he’ll have learned more from Michael Mann than Barry Sonnenfeld.

What are your thoughts on Smith directing The Redemption of Cain? Are you hoping to see some bloodsuckers thrown into the Biblical landscape?