Remember how Tom Cruise was once going to star in a “biblical epic” called Methuselah? Deadline reports that the film is now being developed as a star vehicle for Michael B. Jordan, who played the villain in Black Panther and the titular boxer in Creed — and the latest plot summary makes Methuselah sound less biblical than ever.
To recap: It was first announced in 2014 that Harry Potter producer David Heyman was developing a movie called Methuselah about “a man who ages slowly and has used his time to develop an incredible set of survival skills.” It was said at the time that the story was “based on the character from the Bible,” and that Warner Brothers was pursuing it because of “all the recent interest around characters from the Bible.” (This was the same year that Noah — which starred Anthony Hopkins as Methuselah — came out.)
Then, in 2016, Tom Cruise — who knows a thing or two about aging slowly — became attached to the project. This time, it was said that the film was going to be a “biblical epic” about “a man who lived for almost 1,000 years without ageing, all while developing a set of unparalleled survival skills.” (The biblical Methuselah lived to be 969 years old.)
But now, Deadline says Jordan is being courted to play “a man who has managed to stay alive for over 400 years.” The site goes on to describe the character as “a man who has managed to survive for hundreds of years, without showing the physical signs of age. In that time, he has accumulated vast intellectual knowledge, from multiple languages to the sciences, as well as survival skills.” (No mention of the Bible this time.)
The site adds that the film has “a Highlander-like mythology and franchise potential.”
So, I’m not getting any “biblical” vibes off of this latest report. It could be that the film is just naming itself after Methuselah because the biblical Methuselah is one of the most famous super-old people in the Bible (though he is certainly not the only one!).
Still, anything’s possible. We shall see, assuming the film is ever made.
March 28 update: I am reminded that the bit about the character being only 400 years old was revealed in 2017, when Tony Gilroy gave the script “a creative overhaul”.
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