First look–Batman as Moses, Owen Lars as Ramses in new Exodus film

Ripley as an Egyptian Queen. Gandhi as Moses’ minister. And Ridley Scott directing it all.

Ridley Scott has much more source material to work from in his new Exodus: Gods and Kings, than Darren Aronofsky had with his take on the great flood in his Noah movie earlier this year. And it must be great fun to explore a plague of locusts and a parting sea for a veteran of films like Blade Runner and Alien.

The last time someone tried to take all this on with the scope the new Exodus film appears to explore was nearly 60 years ago with Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments. That perennial Easter favorite made good use of its then-current technology to illustrate some great bible story scenes, but with all the CGI available today, Ridley Scott better pull out all the stops or his epic Bible film will fall flat like Aronofsky’s effort.

It’s unfortunate Exodus: Gods and Kings has one of those direct-to-video titles. Who signed off on such a poor title? Why not just Exodus?

Noah starred Russell Crowe, with Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson, Ray Winstone, and Anthony Hopkins, which seems like a comparable cast to Exodus’s Christian Bale (Moses), Sigourney Weaver (Ramses’ mother Tuya), Ben Kingsley (Moses’ adviser Nun), John Turturro (Ramses’ father Seti), and the Star Wars prequels’ Joel Edgerton (Ramses).

Bible stories don’t seem to make for the best blockbusters these days. But the action in the first trailer out of the gates for Exodus: Gods and Kings has much to compare to modern takes on ancient conflict, like 300 and its sequel 300: Rise of an Empire, including its striking gold clad villains and over-dramatic battles. We all want to see an adventure reminiscent of Indiana Jones movies. Ancient Egypt still carries much intrigue, particularly with its monumental architecture. How well will Scott recreate this for our theaters? Here’s the trailer for Exodus: Gods and Kings: