I have been a stranger in a strange land. The life of Moses is indeed epic and we may be getting not one, but two updates from different studios, reports Vulture. The Departed and Sherlock Holmes producer Dan Lin is developing an “exodus project” dealing with a “version of the story of the Israelites’ departure from Egypt.” Exam and upcoming Paradise Lost writer Stuart Hazeldine has hand a crack at the script, as well as The Green Lantern and The Flash‘s Michael Green. At Warners, they expect a “final draft imminently.”
Over at the other side of the Red Sea, Rise of the Apes producer Peter Chernin is developing a “Untitled Moses Project” at Fox. The attached writing team Bill Collage and Adam Cooper is an odd choice, as they’ve previously done Accepted and the Olsen twins’ New York Minute. Vulture points out they are going on to bigger and better things though, adapting Moby Dick for Timur Bekmambetov as well as Marco Polo for I Am Legend‘s Francis Lawrence. Chernin is currently looking for directors.
I’ve caught parts of Cecil B. DeMille’s original The Ten Commandments, but I think this is an epic story that could certainly be updated for modern audiences. This is the kind of project I’d love to see James Cameron do, but unfortunately he is tied up with Avatar sequels. Usually we have to wait around for Ridley Scott to handle these now-rare Hollywood epics, but it is nice to see interest reinvigorated.
Which Moses project sounds more interesting to you? Should they even update this classic story?