Will Smith to play the Bible’s Cain?

If you think watching Hannibal Lecter portray Methuselah will be weird, get ready to see the Biblical Cain as played by the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Entertainment website Deadline is reporting that Will Smith is the latest Hollywood A-lister involved in an adaptation of the Old Testament. The former TV star is considering a project about the deadly sibling rivalry between Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam and Eve, and would both star in and direct the movie, tentatively titled “The Redemption of Cain.”

While few details have been released, it appears that the adaptation may be less than faithful to the Torah’s account of the story, in which Cain kills his more virtuous brother and attempts to conceal his crime. Unless we’re forgetting something, the original version didn’t involve vampires, which apparently play a role in the new film’s original script. (Vampires? How very 2008.)

The vampire angle was reportedly the contribution of Smith’s brother-in-law, Caleb Pinkett, who penned the first draft, and whose only other writing credit is a short film called “The 7th Commandment.” Pinkett’s initial script is being rewritten by Andrea Berloff, who co-wrote Oliver Stone’s 2006 drama “World Trade Center.”

“The Redemption of Cain” will not be Smith’s next movie, Deadline reports, and will probably arrive in theaters after a number of other Biblical projects already in the works.

We reported earlier this week that “Silence of the Lambs” star Anthony Hopkins has signed on to play Methuselah in upcoming epic “Noah,” and have also noted competing Exodus adaptations from Steven Spielberg and “Prometheus” director Ridley Scott.