Ridley Scott filmed Exodus: Gods And Kings (as it is now subtitled) in a way that seemed almost under the radar last year, and judging by the first trailer, now live, it looks like an epic of epic epicness (to steal a tagline from a very different film). Alongside that first trailer, we have two exclusive new stills from the film to share with you. Click below for a closer look. The stills show Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton's dramatis personae, Moses and Pharoah Ramses, together in the more harmonious phase of a relationship that swiftly frays and disintegrates in spectacular fashion. Moses, of course, is charged with leading his people to the promised land and emancipation, a goal Ramses has no intention of permitting.
There's first glimpses, too, of Sigourney Weaver and John Turturro as Ramses' parents, Tuya and Seti respectively. Also in evidence is a nice sense of the old-school Hollywood sets Scott has had constructed for his vision of ancient Egypt.
Even for Scott, a man for whom confidence has never been an issue, Exodus: Gods And Kings sees him at something of a peak. After giving us a sneak glimpse at the trailer last week, he called to talk us through this first look at what is, without doubt, the biggest movie of a career.
A spiritual sister to just one of his classics, Gladiator, this is swords and sandals on a truly enormous scale. And, like Gladiator, at its beating heart lies an intimate struggle between two men: Joel Edgerton’s Ramses and Christian Bale’s Moses.
Taking the legendary scale of Charlton Heston and The Ten Commandments and then, well, upscaling it, this is based on the Biblical account of Moses and will take in his freeing of 600,000 slaves and leading them through the desert to escape the ten deadly plagues infesting Egypt.
It will also, of course, as the trailer stands proud testament, see Scott part the might of the Red Sea. “And let me tell you,” Scott tells us of the moment we first see its full force, showcased at the very end of this trailer: “When the big boy comes in, it’s the best thing you’ve ever seen.”
The movie itself was shot in a ridiculously quick 74 days, on locations including Almeria in Spain. “I’m just really experienced and I know how to use five cameras or seven cameras, or eleven cameras if required, honestly without even really thinking about it,” says Scott of his speed. “It’s just about knowing where to put them, you know? It can shorten schedules dramatically, so it kills people coming through. You know, the studio says, ‘Well, Ridley did this in 74 days... You can't have 150!’”
Exodus: Gods And Kings also stars Sigourney Weaver, Aaron Paul and Ben Kingsley and will hit cinemas on December 26. Check back tomorrow morning for a Scott-assisted breakdown of this trailer's biggest moments.