First Noah, Now Moses: Ridley Scott’s ‘Exodus’

Entertainment Weekly offers a preview of “Exodus: Gods and Kings,” starring Christian Bale as Moses.

For his 22nd film, Scott assembled an IMDb-busting cast, including Joel Edgerton, Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley, John Turturro, and Aaron Paul. “When you’re Ridley, you pick up the phone and people will turn up,” says Edgerton (The Great Gatsby), who plays Ramses. “I had to battle demons of self-doubt to feel like I belonged in this club.”

 

Production took the cast to Spain, for filming in Almería, along the Mediterranean Sea, and Fuerteventura, one of the Canary Islands. “It has these stunning beaches,” Bale says of the picturesque coast. “It looks like a Tyrannosaurus rex could come running around a corner.” Edgerton recalls how Scott would whip out a pen and paper on set to draw the complex backdrops that would eventually replace the working greenscreen. “It would be a quick, one-minute sketch, but you’d suddenly see what’s out there,” Edgerton says. “Filmmaking for him must be like breathing.” Bale also has nothing but praise for the veteran director: “He’s got all the passion of a young filmmaker. He’s not jaded.”

The release date is December 12, 2014. In the meantime, one wonders: When is the St. Ignatius biopic coming? And who should play him?