We told you back in September that Warner Bros. wanted, and we mean really wanted, Steven Spielberg to direct their Biblical epic "Gods and Kings," their non-"Ten Commandments" remake about Moses. Now Deadline Hollywood is reporting that the Oscar-winner (and current nominee) is close to signing on the dotted line.
The studio has been high on getting Spielberg behind the camera since he first read the script last fall. Making deals with Spielberg is always tricky, he always has a full slate in development and Warners would have to cut DreamWorks in on the deal. And Spielberg does not tend to make snap decisions on what he's going to direct. The studio reportedly wants to start production on "Gods and Kings" in March or April of 2013. Spielberg recently wrapped on "Lincoln," and despite currently developing "Robopocalypse" is believed to be available.
"Gods and Kings" is said to cover Moses' life from his birth, awakening to the plight of the Hebrew slaves in Egypt, his experience with God via The Burning Bush, his confrontation with the Egyptian pharaoh, the Plagues of Egypt, the escape through the Red Sea (which will presumably part) and receving the Ten Commandments. It is not, however, a remake of Cecil B. DeMille's classic "The Ten Commandments," either version (DeMille made the story as a silent film and then remade it in 1956, making a star out of Charlton Heston).
Of course both versions of "The Ten Commandments" covered Moses' life from his birth, awakening to the plight of the Hebrew slaves in Egypt, his experience with God via The Burning Bush, his confrontation with the Egyptian pharaoh, the Plagues of Egypt, the escape through the Red Sea and receving the Ten Commandments. But you see the difference.
Reportedly Warner Bros. wants a "Braveheart" type of treatment here, with gritty battle realism from the man who directed "Saving Private Ryan." Two things come to mind. One, it's ironic that likening a property to "Braveheart" is now considered a selling point, considering the number of studios that passed on "Braveheart." Second, both "Braveheart" and "Saving Private Ryan" were rated R, and studio brass these days have angina over expensive R-rated movies.
Also, interestingly, "Gods and Kings" is not being contemplated in 3D, despite the parting of the Red Sea and the pillar of fire sequences.
Spielberg's studio DreamWorks, by the way, in its prior incarnation as DreamWorks SKG, released the animated feature, "Prince of Egypt," about the life of Moses, in 1998.
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