Dwayne Johnson, a.k.a. The Rock, currently hard at work filming GI Joe 2: Retaliation, is now in talks to play the biblical role of Goliath in Scott Derrickson’s take on the tale of David and Goliath, entitled Goliath, TwitchFilm report.
The role of David, future King of Israel, has also been offered to Twilight-star Taylor Lautner, with Twilight producers Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey also on board for Goliath.
The bare bones of the story of David and Goliath are of course well known. Goliath is a giant in comparison to the regular-sized David, but nonetheless the latter defeats the giant with a slingshot between the eyes. It will be interesting to see the full plot synopsis when it emerges though, to see exactly what direction debut screenwriters Patrick McKay and John D. Payne decide to take with this project.
Johnson has been making a bigger and bigger name for himself recently, with a brilliant performance in Justin Lin’s Fast Five (a.k.a. Fast & Furious 5) this year, and he’s now filming the sequel to GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra, GI Joe 2: Retaliation. He’s also set to star in the Fast Five follow-up, which is definitely going to be one to look out for.
Lautner has of course also become a recognisable face in the past few years for his role as Jacob in the Twilight films, which has its final instalment commencing on 18th November this year, before Part II next year. His next film, Abduction, has also been gaining some attention lately, due out at the end of the month, and you can see the recently released second trailer here, and an extended fight sequence for the film, which also stars Lily Collins, Jason Isaacs, and Sigourney Weaver, here.
Lautner’s offer is said to be still early days yet, and he’s not officially in talks for the role. But getting to star opposite Dwayne Johnson in what is sure to be a film on a pretty epic scale isn’t really something you should turn down, so I can see him taking the part as it’s on the table for him. Naturally, the film itself is still in early days as well, so no word yet on a release date, but the project sounds like it will be something to look forward to. In reality, I’d wager that Lautner couldn’t actually take Johnson down in a million years, but of course that’s the whole point of the casting.
