Ridley Scott reminds us what epic means with this magnificent new trailer for Exodus: Gods and Kings, featuring Christian Bale as Moses and Joel Edgerton as Rhamses. Ancient Egypt is fortunate to have Ridley Scott as its chief architect, engineer, scribe, sage, poet and high priest.
If that youtube embed is plagued then you can see the trailer here:
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/fox/exodusgodsandkings/
From acclaimed director Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Prometheus) comes the epic adventure EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS, the story of one man’s daring courage to take on the might of an empire. Using state of the art visual effects and 3D immersion, Scott brings new life to the story of the defiant leader Moses (Christian Bale) as he rises up against the Egyptian Pharoah Ramses (Joel Edgerton), setting 600,000 slaves on a monumental journey of escape from Egypt and its terrifying cycle of deadly plagues.
Ben Stiller as Moses, wth? Why do they always go with the annoying comedians? Would you say Martin Lawrence should play Black Panther then?
Daniel Day-Lewis would have made a great Moses (Day-Lewis is ancestrally half Jewish, same as Stiller). And earlier this year, Noah had Jennifer Connelly, whose mother was Jewish, and Logan Lerman, who is 100% Jewish, although their characters weren’t Jewish (being pre-Abrahamic).
Yes, and you made me laugh with the Omar Shariff post before I even commented. I almost added something to my post as well so as not to sound like Spike Lee fussing about Clint Eastwood, and instead sounded like Tyler Perry talking about Spike Lee, so I decided to let stand as is and hope for the best. And I agree with you on the rationalization even just to see it through the eyes of the creator/writer/director/actor. I guess I gave Scott the heat that had been building for other projects I respected and groaned about for the same reasons (Nolan’s Batfilms, the aforementioned Noah, and such).
Ohhhh, all these politically correct castings are just too much to bear on this chain. The real casting should have been:
Roseanne Barr as Moses.
Neil Patrick Harris as Ramses, and
Quentin Tarantino as director.
“Barkhad Abdi as Rameses and Ben Stiller as Moses? How would that be? Everybody happy?”
Abdi – “I’m the Pharoah now!”
Reichdome, I think Scott should’ve been mentioned for director more than the 3 times he has been. That said…I finally watched the trailer for this last night and I don’t have any high hopes for this. But I’ll give it another few viewings and let it sink in like any trailer I watch and try to analyze.
Ryan and Kane I always like u value my input even if let face it I can be a bit overtly passionate . For what it worth I certainly appct anyone who willing to read the matters I raise.
I THINK on my reckoning this is the earliest time in a year yet sonce I contributed here to date. And as for my densely packed comments it ironic isnt it? If the oscars did everything right then there wouldnt be much for any of us to discuss or debate ya know?
But bugger that I wish oscar would use more sound judgement in their decision making more than they do.
and I be sure to c what everyomne else has to say as well thanx for welcomibg me back it not been that long since I was around.
By the way is Rodley Scott now officially the unluckiest of the great filmakers to not win a best dirextir oscar yet?
Spot on, Ryan. With bigger names comes a bigger budget. But if we had Stiller and Abdi face each other in a movie…I’d pay triple to see that.
Ryan…it’s Sherwin-Williams. They’re about to become a huge client of ours so I had to nitpick, amigo 😉
Ryan…it’s Sherwin-Williams.
ack, you know autocorrect changed that to “Sherman-Williams.” I didn’t think that was right but I should’ve checked. Thanks, Kane.
Ryan, it looks like you saw one of my posts before the other? I’ll let Ridley cast it with who he wants to, not because I want to, but because I have to. 🙂
And that was a genuine smile, not a passive aggressive one, Ryan. (Even if it is a slightly frustrated one.)
Ryan, it looks like you saw one of my posts before the other?
Chance, you’re absolutley right, I was scrolling backwards through comments on wordpress mobile using somebody else’s phone, not my own. And I wasn’t paying close attention to the flow of the conversation.
I had first typed something like, “Chance you and I rarely disagree…” but I deleted that because I tried to write something that didn’t sound like an argumentative disagreement at all. Was only trying to offer a different angle on the issue. But I failed to come across as amicably as I was feeling. I shouldn’t have even tried to broach a touchy subject using a keyboard half the size of the phone I normally use.
Believe me, I understand the feeling of frustration when I’m looking forward to a movie but there’s an aspect that makes me wince a little. But I’m always ready to try to concoct some sort of rationalization! 🙂 Especially in defense of an artist’s choices.
And can I just call the bullshit out front and center? “Exodus” and the story of Moses and these awesome special effects are what will sell the tickets if people want to see this movie. Few people are gonna queue this up for Edgerton just like few people queued up Noah for Watson. They can make this movie with brown-skinned actors and still make money. Hell, it’s Ridley Scott! So that’s no reason not to use actors of color.
And I believe Antoinette’s comment is the perfect example of Brad Paisley’s accidental racism. We’re talking about human beings being passed over for roles and the best you could come up with is apes? No orcs or fairies or death-loving aliens upset about losing out roles? (I get that Planet of the Apes is timely, but think for a second, please?)
And lastly, commenters have gone to the mat whenever an actor of color is recommended (here in the comments section) for roles that aren’t typically envisioned as Asian/Black/Hispanic/etc. People were writing textbook replies about why Lupita Nyong’o couldn’t realistically play Belle in Bill Condon’s reimagining of Beauty and the Beast, however here a comment about the race of actors playing Egyptians is considered a dumb u-turn. That’s bullshit.
We’re talking about human beings being passed over for roles
Please name them. Please name an alternative cast of actors who would be more appropriate shades of yellow, red, and brown in these roles. I don’t have any doubt that we can all come up with names of important actors with darker skin than Joe Edgerton. But unless all these alternate choices are of North African and Israeli descent then I don’t see how it helps refine the racial precision for more accurate casting if Denzel or Benicio is a pharaoh.
Unless we’re just playing a game of Sherman-Williams paint-swatch matching, then we need an actor of actual Northeast African descent to play Rameses and an actor of Jewish descent to play Moses, yes?
Barkhad Abdi as Rameses and Ben Stiller as Moses? How would that be? Everybody happy?
Who else do you guys have in mind?
I can envision Idris Elba as Rameses. Elba would be a good match of equivalent gravitas to go up against Bale. I’d like that. But nobody at 20th Century Fox asked me. I don’t get to decide.
Besides, I’m not sure we can possibly know if Rameses was black, can we? Isn’t there widespread scholarly speculation that the Pharoahs of the 18th dynasty were likely descended from waves of conquering military bloodlines from Mesopotamia?
It’s all speculation. We can’t know. So since we can’t know then why not let Ridley Scott cast his own movie with whomever he can get that he wants to work with, and whomever he thinks he needs to convince the studio to front him $150 million.
I see people of all colors in this trailer. Just like people who live in Egypt today are all colors.
Ryan, I’ll take a stab at that recast for you!
Let’s look at the ancient Egyptians as brown-skinned Middle-Easterns:
Danny Pudi…Moses
Raza Jaffrey…Rhamses
Shohreh Aghdashloo…Tuya
Now let’s look at the ancient Egyptians as brown-skinned Africans:
Nelsan Ellis…Moses
David Oyelowo…Rhamses
Angela Bassett…Tuya
I agree that’s it’s frustrating to see brown-skinned people with limited representation outside of the typical roles (best friend, terrorist, gangster/slave/nail-salon owner) AS WELL as wiped out and ignored from history outside of apartheid, American Slavery, and marches for civil rights.
However I did spot a black person in the trailer. That’s one more than NOAH had.
Reichdome, it’s good to see something so densely packed as Ryan said. I’ll have to take some time and get a coffee and read all that 🙂
Firstly to those who know me as simple ‘Reichdome’- i presume your aware of my intention behind my ‘self labelling’ it essentially in a semi sarcastic way points to and represents the Hollywood ‘cycle’ much like a sequel or prequel..you have your blockbuster seasons, with sequels, reboots to prequels hence when i adapt a different theme each oscar year..such as words like ‘rise’ ‘continues’ (‘again’) – but it also is a euphomology that implies the annual Hollywood shenanigans blockbuster, box office, prophets then, and then each year we always end up with the same old ideological warfare the oscars which most pple clearly detest based on the overall decisions they make as the struggle between conservatist favouritism vs new style progressionism continues.
And each year so the annual film hollywood tradition calendar ‘continues’ resumes’ begins see? Now you understand for those of you who seen what i write etc?
But it ironic or maybe it not? cos truly and ultimately all i advocate for is the TRUE BEST FILM IN BOTH CRITICS AND THE PUBLIC EYE what they BOTH embrace and what exceeds $$$ appeal to advance cinema in this new millenium.
Now we come to it and without even seeing a trailer of both dawn of the planet of the apes and Scotts latest crowd pleasing epic bout a well known and well renowned story..
(though my only misgiving of it is casting Joel Edgerton as Ramses if he nails it great but that a big if surely it near impossible to surpass at very least the performance of the great Yul Brenner from the original 10 commandments movie?
But even of Edgerton does not quite nail it, but everything else including the incredible epic production value, visuals and technical mastery which we know only Scott is well suited to (clearly his love for Gladiator) is reflected in the design and execution of the product itself- so i say why the hell not? Scott has been around as long if not slightly? longer than Spielberg, Scorsese and Cameron yet he stands alone unjustly for his genre redefining work and his owning of serious sci fi blended with epic sword and sandals epics and well i hate to say it but and to be clear..
It not the ONLY reason and IF IT not THE ONLY reason to give ones due in this case Scottr mayvbe? for best director oscar win then of course it richly deserved IF and i must say a very big IF but i be the last one to doubt Scott ability to make this surpass the critic and public appeal of the two most famour s epics made in Hollywood history to surpass the likes of “the ten commandments” and “exodus” .
the latter big call and so long as the screenplay is as accurate as possible and dare i say even more precise than 10 commandements and debate publicly is neutralized by scott i have faith expert research in this biblical old old ancient tale as he inevtiably seek to strike the balance between where it if it applicable to carve some fiction but only and i onyl accept as someone jewish as someone that knows from our own bible how ther story panned out…but so long as fiction is secondary to true references if he nails it make no mistake..this year i could well be torn between the conservative choice
why? what makes it exception to my rule? it it very well done if both critics and public are on board if majority of actors play there hearts out (and bale does not have his ill temper behind the scenes clouding his chances and has some off field discipline he imposes on himself:P) and if this biblical tale is largely accepted by majhority of academics, scholars religious experts on both sides of the divide (but let be honest this is a Jewish tale- though i admit it de3pends where it begins where it ends?
the context and i can accept by it title it may be far vaster than just that but surely Scott MUST with inclusion of Moses draw on true enough as accdurate enough as possible anything less and i cannot embrace this movie as my choice for best picture- it comes down to the screenplay precision you see?
But i cannot deny i would never ever utterly condemn a Scott film even if his script is a bit too wayward and it still bew one of my faovurites for the year but it will take a extraordinary achievement to strike the epic achievement out of the ballpark and precision in both perormances and script execution this is what i be keeping a particular sharp eye out can he surpass a combination of both the feel of Exodus with Ten Commandments (when i say feel of Exodus i acknowledge the setting was the War modern times however the feel as in drawing on the Jewish references and arabic ones which key back to biblical times as references in that great film)
As it stands though and as i have faith in Ridley Scott surely one of the most precise visionary craftsman and passionate directors of our time, how respects his material (seriously one has to questrion why the Gladiator special extended edition was NOT the final cut it so disappoints me nowadays that directotrs feel a need to over simplify there material just for sake of making it crowd pleasing where the faith that Hollywood puts in it filmmakers rather than compelling them to bow to prefabricAted nonsensical expectation? return of the King proved that a longer film does not diminisgh a films appeal or success far from it and Avatar was neaely 3 hrs?
On that it the editing or more the limitations on editing required regardless of the context of the setting everyone, let me assure you the ONLY WAY to make this film work at all levels esp in script story telling is not to take too many shortcuts..at LEAST a 3.5 hr film run time surely! make the commericalised estended cut the orignal cut for all to experience as Scotss vision surely deserves dont undersell it to public and critics…that what i say
But despite my faith i must admit after watching Rise of the Planet of the Apes, i must admit once again this film genre represents the way forward for film yet again another opprtunity and conundrum for oscar…and i admit this year a major potentially huge conundrum for me too between if Scott nails it his latest master epic (i hope) Interstellar or Dawn of Planet of the Apes.
A few things on this,. Given the premise of the ‘Apes’ series is to show how ape intelligence mimicks and even with the sci fi twist but all more real in how it was gradually played out in first move ala prequel/ remake, that through Caesars eyes we see how primates evolve to human intelligence a statement in itself about our own species how we evolved from primates..this film very much blurred the line..between the two as sci fi crossed over and evolved to a eery yet welcome refreshing form of realism..
But in truth the best hope and i hope oscar really embrace what i expect to be a superb follow up’ sequel to a prequel lol’ but in al seriousness there need to be a correct interpretation buy the media en masse except sensible sites like this one which are all too rare..and franky oscar needs to shut out the arrogance self centredness of these critics groups to make their own decision if they do that ‘Apes’ has a shot but it depends might they wait till end of trilogy?
We epxlore these m,atters further but suddenly and with exception i taken a keen interest how oscar race sures up.
But before i go further i want to make a observation my dad often a good barometer of what he feels is best picture worthy who respect and long been a fan of Clint Eastwood his reaction to the ‘Jersey Boys’ remake by Clint Eastwodd shocked me someone of his generation, conservative in his ways was not impressed one eyota watning me it a ‘dull story’ been ‘done before’ and really i ‘know it al already regardless of Eastwood genius;.
If you take the attitude of someone even one indivdiaul who very much represents the sentimenets of old style conservaztive hollywood..and combine it with Jersey Boys dismal failure considering the brand let face it Eastwood is a great filmmaker- but doesnt mean every film he make is always great look a bemoaned Spielberg for AI it was chaotic i did not like Amistad either boring! ..so in the end it would be the ‘easy option’ but one that would rightfully stain OScars alreadt torn and lacerated record in their judgements past with who wins best picturefinger pointing of favouritism for Eastwood..and Eastwood actually deserves better than that it would be utter selfishness therefore for oscar to embrace Jersey Boys and Eastwood as best director when surely eastwood knows his even greater works are yet to come..
So in short my warning to oscar is snub Jersey Boys..stop propping up box office failures..and wake up to the brave new era of filmmaking..it wont go away…either embrace the best of best films IF Scotts ‘G-ds and Kings’ does get up and live upt o the hype or a lternative potentyially equally desrving one in either i going outta limb but both these films and filmmakers have not let me down hardly ever at all both the filmmaker of Dawn of Planet of the Apes and Interstellar deserve to be in the mix.
To nominate Jersey boys ok ut let be honest it far from Eastwood best and even he surely knows it oscar bait..in it rawest form..MYstic River was great it deserved to win if Kings was not showing that year…Unforgiven too MDB still highly debatable to this day i wish is saw ‘F;ags of our Fathers’ i amazed the lack of oscar love at least in nomination volume ffor that one but i get it on blu ray for sure!
Meantime i snicker at the very fact that i know what oscar refuse to accept the new guard of filmmaking is not only here to stay but becoming more and more successful on the critics stakes a whopping 95% for Dawn of Planet of the Apes and MEtacritic has it running high and dont be surprised if bfca give it cruitics choice for the month too! dont be surprised if Interstellar blows our minds…and dont be surprise if these along with Scott epic figure in final nomination..for best picture..
I prepared to make early prediction at least Scott and one of two though imo both Apes and Interstellar surely may well deserve to be in final nomination list..
But pls at most only nominations for Jersey Boys but no wins not this year for Eastwood..and i stand by that wish with hope he comes up with something at least as amazing in future as ‘Mystic River’ ‘boys;’ is not it ladies and folks right?
my only misgiving of it is casting Joel Edgerton as Ramses if he nails it great but that a big if surely it near impossible to surpass at very least the performance of the great Yul Brenner from the original 10 commandments movie?
Yul Brynner benefits by being the only dignified thing in a mostly cheesy movie. Lucky for Colin Firth that nobody expected him to surpass all the actors who played far superior kings in dozens of far superior movies. In fact, Firth also benefited by being the only dignified thing in a cheesy movie.
Reichdome, it’s always a pleasure to see you join the conversation with one of your trademark densely-packed comments.
Maybe because of the fantasy elements in it, the film looks amazing. I’m not such a fan of Scott’s sober, realistic-looking historical epics, unlike most. This one will probably be different.
I just hope Dariusz Wolski receives his first Oscar nom.
Looks gorgeous, but I gotta be honest, I like this director.
The dark sky and windstorms, as well as the inundation rushing towards the man and his horse in the end, look all sublime — like paintings. BUT at the same time, they also look overdone to me, not real (as supposed to be) in a sense.
That said, I’m in for Bale in his lead performance, the overall VFX and palpable art production-and-design despite both of them rolling into one baffling blend (for now [on the clip only]), as well as Scott’s direction.
[Not sure, though, if I was discussing the same version as the two featured here — the gone clip and the fruit’s link]
In that solo poster, I thought Edgerton was John Cusack! LOL
@Ryan
HA! Good stuff
Again, the actors in the movie look really weird to me with all the bronzer on their faces. That is not cool. Lets make all these actors darker by using bronzer instead of casting minority actors to play the part., Joel Edgerton looks insanely weird.
Im angry that this board does not see the problem with this movie. Ancient Egyptians were not white. For Ridley Scott to make the entire cast white is disrespectful. Im tired of white men lying about history.
Jason, cast Exodus for us with actors you think would be better so we know what your preferred movie would look like.
One way to look at it, we finally get to balance things out for all the times Omar Sharif played Nicky Arnstein.
I’d be happy with a deal where Egyptian-American Actor Rami Malek shows up shirtless in lots of movies so we can appreciate his skin tone more often.
Not all Egyptians are black or dark skinned, Bale and Edgerton make reasonable Moses and Rameses with that tanned skin.
“Maybe Scott will finally get his Oscar.”
Keifer, do mean for Best Director?
Joeyhegele, I know Joel Edgerton won’t sell all the tickets alone. But Christian Bale, Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley and Aaron Paul will help. I’m not turning a blind eye to white actors being cast as Middle Easterners, I’m just saying from a financial standpoint I can see where the filmmaker/producers are coming from. If Scott needed 100somemillion dollars to make the movie, the execs are probably saying, “If you want a budget like this then you need big names.” Big name actors carry bigger budgets with them. I remember when The Fountain lost both Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. Aronofsky had to effectively make the movie for half of its original budget. Thanks for posting the article though! I’ll definitely give it a read.
@Kane
I know Joel Edgerton has his fans and many will be looking forward to this film, but no one is going to buy a ticket simply because he is in it.
I realize there is no definitive model of what ancient Egyptians looked like (more European vs more African), but when there are so few roles for people of color you should not default with “pale skin” when “dark skin” would be better.
There is an excellent article by HitFix about the new show Tyrant which touches on this issue:
http://www.hitfix.com/the-fien-print/why-it-matters-that-fxs-tyrant-didnt-cast-a-middle-eastern-actor-in-its-lead-role
Ridley Scott is one of the most creative filmmakers on the planet.
David Fincher, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Francis Ford Coppola, Terry Gilliam, Terrence Malick – Scott is in their great company in my opinion.
He’s one of the few directors whose films I seek out just because he made them, regardless of the plot, actors, or theme.
And casting the great unheralded Joel Edgarton is a stroke of genius! (He was wonderful in The Great Gatsby last year, so I am really anticipating his performance in this movie.)
Maybe Scott will finally get his Oscar.
Antoinette, comment of the fucking day m’lady!
@Antoinette
I literally laughed out loud at this. At work. When people looked at me funny, I was just like “Er, never mind”. 🙂
Exactly the same thing. *headshake*
I was talking to some of my ape friends the other day, and they are super pissed that Andy Serkis keeps taking all the decent ape roles. Hollywood is never going to change. SMH
Apologies for noticing the white actors.
I’m sure the film will definitely be epic no matter what. I will be seeing it no matter what.
SIgh. U-turn is right. Dumb.
Well, this discussion just took a U-turn.
What, no reference to the amount of white actors in this Egyptian epic?
Oh wait, IMDB shows one black actor. He plays an Egyptian thief.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1528100/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Uggh, not that it makes it right but if somebody is making a really, really expensive movie and they want to see a lot of that money back from the audience, they’ll cast big name stars that people the world over would recognize.
assuming box office competence Dawn should do better than District 9, IMO.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes very well could be great and get high overall scores on Metacritic, but I don’t see it being any sort of contender in the main categories.
Nice to see two caucasian actors playing two Middle Easterners.
Clearly there are no talented Middle-Eastern actors out there… It looks like they have some nice Tan Face on though, just to make it a little more authentico.
I have always loved Ridley Scott. When you grow up and into the movies, he was one of the directors I followed. I loved is attention to detail, and he appears to sprinkle light and glimmer into the frame like nobody else. Alien, Blade Runner and Legend are the obvious early examples of this. But he does it even in contemporary narratives, like Thelma & Louise, Matchstick Men, and A Good Year. Go and sit through Someone To Watch Over Me and check out the shimmering line on the back of Mimi Roger’s legs as she walks along the corridor. Brilliant.
meanwhile, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes becomes a contender with 100 MC from McCarthy.
If there’s any director after David Lean who dares to spread the canvas in such epic manner and succeeds it’s Ridley Scott, one of the most Oscar due directors of our time. I can’t wait to see the river Nile parting in pure Ridley Scott style.
Yes, for me Prometheus was a success also, it wasn’t a badass sci-fi action movie most of the people expected it to be, it was something else, and that something else was rich and fantastic by all means.
Love it, looks great. You can’t go wrong with Christian Bale.
The Fighter and Warrior.
A HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
Bale is SO GREAT!!!!
Please watch and laugh with me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6gIc_8pXUI
“as long as i can get over the raspy, guttural Batman voice for Moses.”
To think back when, Bale even sang in a musical.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7I20FOEtF4
i assume Sigourney Weaver plays the Nina Foch role.
as long as i can get over the raspy, guttural Batman voice for Moses.
I’m iffy here, in part because of Scott’s track record (I thought Kingdom of Heaven was miserably dull–and yes, I saw the Director’s Cut), but I’ll wait until I can see this trailer in a theater.
Stop moving about…I’m doing me eyeliner. 😀
E P I C to the bone!
Bale is gonna rock as Moses and Joel looks strong. I hope Weaver will have a great supporting turn in this hopefully great movie
I didn’t even recognize Uncle Owen.
I think this looks great. When was the last time there was an excellent epic film released? I wonder how long it will run, and if it will play for Oscar. The production value, the colors, Sigourney Weaver (someone gave her a movie!) and Bale, I’m excited.
Note: 3 posters added above.
Initially I wondered what was the point, but the trailer almost has me convinced. Joel Edgerton as Ramses is an interesting choice – a good one, I think. A lot depends on how far to the self-righteous Christian Bale (and the writers) take the Moses character.
Ridley doing the whole pyramid-building, plague-bashing and sea-parting lollpalooza might just get that wooden DeMille/Heston thing out of my mind forever, so that’s another plus.
It looks like the most epic measuring contest of all time. Lots of sword brandishing…talking about manliness in very close quarters…I’m so in.
I’m really psyched about the combination of Bale and Edgerton. We’ve known how great Bale was for a long time now, but I’m really impressed with the work Edgerton has put in in recent years. I can’t think of two better actors to anchor a massive film like this. The trailer is stunning. Prometheus be damned, he’s still Ridley Scott.
Studio may think it’s got a great one on it’s hands. Didn’t realize it was releasing in December.
WOW. Just WOW. And if there’s a quality screenplay to go with it–oh look out!
I was very hesitant when i heard about this movie but I love Ridley. This looks fantastic in my opinion.
“Ridley Scott reminds us what epic means”
You’re not kidding. The first thing that I said to myself when watching it was, “Wow, that’s a pretty massive looking production.” It looks visually stunning, as all of Scott’s films are. I’m intrigued.