Warner Bros. Wants Spielberg to Direct Epic Story Of Moses

Word came out not long ago that Mel Gibson had targeted making the life of Jewish hero Judah Maccabee into his next sprawling historic epic, and that Warner Bros. would be developing the project. Could Warner Bros. be far from giving Gibson some in-house competition?

Deadline reports that the studio has its eye on "Schindler's List" Academy Award-winner Steven Spielberg to direct a film called "Gods And Kings" about the life of Moses. Michael Green ("Green Lantern") and Stuart Halezdine (the upcoming "Paradise Lost" adaptation) have written the script that Spielberg has received, but reportedly not yet read.

Deadline speculated that a deal could get tricky both because Spielberg has an always-packed schedule and any deal will probably involve sharing the picture in some respect or another with the director's co-owned DreamWorks SKG.

The script reportedly covers Moses' life from birth to death, including but not limiting that scope to what Cecil B. Demille's 1956 Charlton Heston classic "The Ten Commandments" portrayed in terms of the plight of the Hebrew slaves under Pharaoh, his encounter with the Burning Bush, the 10 Plagues and his eventual delivering of the slaves from Pharaoh's persecution. In other words, it's not a remake. Instead, Deadline claims, it will be rooted largely within the Book of Exodus and other Old Testament stories.

That's not to say that comparisons with "The Ten Commandments" would ultimately be unflattering. DeMille's masterpiece grossed over $65 million in the 1950s, which adjusts today with inflation to around $1 billion.

All that would remain to be said is this: Warner Bros., be careful - both with Gibson's film, and with this one. Though Gibson stuck closely with the scriptures when putting together "The Passion of the Christ," many Jewish groups still publicly spoke out against the film and expressed sincere fears that releasing it would give rise to a wave of anti-semistism springing from how Gibson depicted the Jews' persecution of Jesus of Nazareth.

With Spielberg - who is Jewish himself, a champion of preserving history's lessons of the Holocaust, and who allegedly ordered former "Transformers" star Megan Fox's firing from the franchise after public remarks likening director Michael Bay to Adolph Hitler - in charge, the project is probably more safe from bad publicity than Gibson's.

Still, be safe, not sorry.