A trend that’s taking over Hollywood as of late is the rise of the biblical epic. In the last year alone, we’ve seen Darren Aronofsky’s take on the infamous arc builder in Noah, and soon Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods And Kings will land in theatres. Now, Warner Bros. are keen to get in on the sandal action, as the studio is making headway on their property Methuselah.
Together with producer David Heyman, who brought us the first and last Harry Potter instalments and Gravity, their plan is to bring the Bible character to the big screen for his own pic. The story of Methuselah is one that’s tantamount to a superhero origin tale, as the story is set to follow “a man who ages slowly and has used his time to develop an incredible set of survival skills.”
If the name sounds familiar, that’s because Aronofsky’s epic featured Anthony Hopkins in the wizened role. Earlier attempts to get the project off the ground at Warner had Will Smith and Tom Cruise in the crosshairs at one point, but it seems unlikely they’ll be in the running this time.
While we don’t know yet who’ll be playing the titular character, Variety reports that a writer has been secured in the shape of Zach Dean. A relative newcomer, Dean’s Blacklist script Beast stirred up interest in the scribe, who’ll now pen his first project for Warner. This will mark his fourth successful deal, as the writer also sold his pitch The Lightkeepers to Working Title, with his spec script Layover set up at Endgame Productions.
Heyman will oversee the project under his Heyday Films banner, with cohorts Jeff Clifford and John Fischer tackling the production side. Drew Crevello and Jon Gonda will be keeping tabs on proceedings for the studio.
We’ll keep you posted with the latest developments on Methuselah as they land.
