Following an Oscar nod for his work on American Hustle last year, Christian Bale could well be in line for similar recognition this December when Ridley Scott unveils his biblical epic, Exodus: Gods and Kings.
The film is set to retell the story of Moses leading the Israelite slaves out of Egypt, and is sure to have one of the biggest scopes of any film this year.
Joel Edgerton and Aaron Paul top the ensemble cast as Rhamses and Joshua, respectively, with John Turturro, Ben Kingsley, and Sigourney Weaver rounding out the rest.
Scott is directing from a script first co-written by Bill Coolage and Adam Cooper (Assassin’s Creed, Tower Heist), with Oscar winner Steven Zaillian (Moneyball, Schindler’s List) hired to do a subsequent rewrite.
Scott is coming off the back of The Counselor, received with mixed reviews last year. Before that, it was the equally-mixed Prometheus, so it will be interesting to see how Exodus: Gods and Kings gets received at the end of the year.
Fox’s positioning of it in December suggests they’re eyeing an Oscar campaign, and you can’t blame them with all the talent on board. Here’s to hoping that it lives up to expectations.
Exodus: Gods and Kings will be released in 2D and 3D in the US on December 12th, ahead of its Boxing Day release in the UK.
