Somewhat ironically given that its story features an ageless character, Methuselah has been in development for at least a decade at Warner Bros. The studio – and producer David Heyman, who has been involved since this one was set up – is now hoping that adding Michael B. Jordan as star and producer might be just what it needs to kick back into more active life.
Originated by writer/director James Watkins, it has little to do with the Biblical original beyond the concept, which should now see Jordan 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. It's been pitched as an "elevated genre" outing and has been through the scriptwriting hands of Arash Amel and Zach Dean on its long journey through movie limbo. It most recently resurfaced as a potential collaboration between Pirates Of The Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge director Joachim Rønning and one Tom Cruise (you might have heard of him... likes to do stunts?)
None of the previous incarnations have worked out, so we'll have to wait and see whether this one actually makes it. Jordan has plenty to keep him busy in the meantime, including films with Denzel Washington and Gerard McMurry, and producing/appearing in TV series Raising Dion. He'll next show up in Just Mercy, due out next January.
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