After ‘Prometheus,’ Scott tackles Moses

The director of “Alien” and “Blade Runner” has found the focus of his next film: Moses.

Ridley Scott, who also directed “Thelma & Louise” and “Gladiator,” has told Esquire that he’s already at work on a biopic about the biblical patriarch. “What’s interesting to me about Moses isn’t the big stuff that everybody knows. It’s things like his relationship with [the pharaoh],” he told the magazine. “I honestly wasn’t paying attention in school when I was told the story of Moses. Some of the details of his life are extraordinary.”

The English filmmaker, 74, is currently promoting “Prometheus,” his scary-looking “Alien” prequel, and told Esquire he was pleased to hear it has what his interviewer called “an Old Testament vibe.”

Ridley Scott (photo credit: CC-BY-SA Gage Skidmore/Wikipedia Commons)

“I’m really intrigued by those eternal questions of creation and belief and faith,” Scott responded. “I don’t care who you are, it’s what we all think about.”

A three-time Oscar nominee, Scott didn’t share many details about his Moses movie, though he sounds unlikely to adopt a reverent approach to the subject. “The biggest source of evil is of course religion,” he told the magazine, later adding, “Everyone is tearing each other apart in the name of their personal god. And the irony is, by definition, they’re probably worshiping the same god.”

Scott’s Moses film is just the latest biblical biopic announced by a Hollywood heavyweight. “Black Swan” director Darren Aronofsky is currently at work on “Noah,” with Russell Crowe in the title role, while Steven Spielberg has reportedly lined up a Moses movie of his own.

Scott previously tackled religious themes in “Kingdom of Heaven,” a 2005 drama set in Jerusalem during the Crusades.