After resurrecting the genre with the incredible Gladiator in 2000 and returning to it with Kingdom of Heaven in 2005, director Ridley Scott is about to give us another of his huge historical epics. Exodus: Gods and Kings is Scott’s take on the biblical story of Moses from the book of Exodus. Most of us are familiar with the story, and its incredible blend of character development and stunning imagery will surely be a sight to behold on the big screen. The story was previously adapted in the 1956 classic The Ten Commandments, but advances in special effects more than justify this modern re-telling.
20th Century Fox has released a new trailer for the film and it is absolutely stunning. Scott’s depiction of ancient Egypt – an epic kingdom that we have seen too seldom depicted on the big screen – looks flawless. The film looks like it has serious potential to be another hit in the vein of Gladiator, which perfectly blended mind-blowing special effects with believable drama. The big draw of Exodus will be to see the ten plagues of Egypt depicted on the big screen and they are wisely teased in this trailer.
The film stars Christian Bale (The Dark Knight) as Moses and Australia’s Joel Edgerton (The Great Gatsby) as his adopted brother Ramses. It’s so great to see Edgerton’s star continue to rise in Hollywood and Exodus is probably his most high-profile lead role to date. We have absolutely no doubt that he will knock it out of the park in what will be an incredibly complex role. The impressive supporting cast includes Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley, John Turturro and Breaking Bad‘s Aaron Paul.
Here’s the official synopsis for the film:
From acclaimed director Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Prometheus) comes the epic adventure EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS, the story of one man’s daring courage to take on the might of an empire. Using state of the art visual effects and 3D immersion, Scott brings new life to the story of the defiant leader Moses (Christian Bale) as he rises up against the Egyptian Pharoah Ramses (Joel Edgerton), setting 400,000 slaves on a monumental journey of escape from Egypt and its terrifying cycle of deadly plagues.
Here’s the trailer in all its Egyptian glory:
Exodus: Gods and Kings will be released in Australian cinemas on December 11.
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