Steven Spielberg is near to etching in stone with Warner Bros on
that biopic portraying the Jewish leader as the warrior to beat all warriors. With a working title of
Gods And Kings, what’s envisioned is “a movie like a
Braveheart-ish
version of the Moses story,” an insider tells us. “Him coming down the
river, being adopted, leaving his home, forming an army, and getting the
Ten Commandments.” And despite the awesome screen possibilities of the
parting of the Red Sea, the movie
isn’t being contemplated in 3D. Back in 1956, Paramount released
The Ten Commandments in VistaVision to give moviegoers a more spectacular experience of
scenes like that. But this film is as far from a remake of the Cecile B.
DeMille-directed epic as you can get even though they cover similar
ground. Instead Warner Bros wants Spielberg to direct it with the gritty
reality of
Saving Private Ryan, which is considered a
masterpiece redefining battle movies. ”There have been glossy versions
of the Moses story but this would be a real warrior story,” an insider
tells us.
The studio has wanted Spielberg on the project since last September when he first read the script. (See previous,
Warner Bros Goes To The Mountaintop For Moses Epic.)
Getting Spielberg seemed a long shot because his deals are always
complex and his dance card is always full. Talks intensified, and now
insiders tell us the dialogue should consummate by the end of the month.
Warner Bros wants to start production sometime in March or April of
2013.