Variety is reporting that 20th Century Fox is remaking Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments!
Sorta.
But wait, it gets weirder…
Fox intends to tell the story of Moses in the style of 300, Zach Snyder’s pornographically violent film about the last stand of a cadre of Spartan warriors against a far more vast Persian foe at the Battle of Thermopile.
Fox says it’s keeping all the good stuff, from plagues to the parting the Red Sea, but is including new information excised not from the Bible, but from Rabbinical Midrash and other historical sources.
Other than 300‘s obviously splendid visuals (filmed almost entirely on a green-screen laden set), I can’t imagine why you’d link these two films unless you intend to transform Moses from a weak leader, terrified of his calling and dependant on God for every ounce of his strength into a revolutionary figure who employs violence to attain his ends.
Perhaps I’m reading more into this than I should, but I seem to have misplaced my Midrash and am wondering exactly where Fox intends to go with this. There is the potential, of course, to offend millions of Christians and Jews alike. Or perhaps Fox is taking a page from Quentin Tarantino’s latest film, Inglourious Basterds and creating a revenge fantasy film that elevates the oppressed underdogs to the status of vengeful angels.
More details as they appear…
