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Warner Bros. Making Biblical Elder 'Methuselah' into a Survival Expert

by Ben Pearson
June 11, 2012
Source: Variety

Since Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan was such a surprise hit, it's no wonder Hollywood wants to follow in his footsteps with other tales from the Bible. Aronofsky's got Noah finally setting sail soon, Ridley Scott is working on a Moses movie, and now Variety reports that I Am Legend 2 writer Arash Amel has been hired to rewrite Methuselah, a film based on the biblical story of the oldest man who ever lived. He lived to be almost 1,000 years old, and this adaptation will depict him as a man who used that extended time on Earth to develop an "unparalleled set of survival skills." Skills that make him a nightmare for people like you?

The Woman in Black director James Watkins is set to direct the movie, and Amel has been hired to do a page one rewrite of Watkins' original script (I wonder how he feels about that?). Harry Potter mega-producer David Heyman is slated to produce Methuselah, so he'll bring some solid experience to the project. Interestingly, the Bible's oldest geezer was actually Noah's grandfather, so could we see an Avengers-style team-up between these two Old Testament figures? Not likely, but it's humorous to think about. I'm morbidly curious to see how they turn Methuselah into a Bear Grylls-esque survival expert, because this concept just sounds ridiculous to me. Thoughts?

Filed under Development, Movie News

From around the web:

lando

the great god son of adam! I can see him more like an "I am Legend" character..if you're going to make stuff up it might as well be interesting..i guess it depends on how they execute the concept..could be..fun?
Big Boss

✔Adaptations ✔Remakes ✔Reboots ✔Prequels ✔Sequels ✔Comic Books ✔Video Games ✔Toy Lines ✔Fairy Tales ✔Biblical Stories ✘Original Content
- http://www.facebook.com/P862010 Nelson Ortiz
  
  there is no such thing as an original concept even movies like moon,django unchained,d9,inception are not even original like fanboys think
  - DC
    
    No shit Django is not original, anyone knows that..
    - Lando
      
      ok, so the Django name has been used in a couple of italian westerns, but now where have we seen a flic where a slave is freed, trained to be a bounty hunter and go on a killing spree with a white bounty hunter in the south? someone please tell me cause I would like to see that.
      - Jericho
        
        trade bounty hunter for sheriff and its Blazing Saddles...8D
      - Lando
        
        ok, smart guy, so then tell me since you are so damn smart.. Where the white women at?
  - Danimal
    
    True, those aren't original concepts, but they are original stories through different characters being portrayed through the eyes of different directors. In other words, out of the batman movies, I'm sure you prefer one directors portrayal of the Gotham universe over another's. And that's what makes the art of cinema exciting, because we get to see other perspectives on how they think, not only a story should be portrayed, but even a simple concept
- rocky728
  
  Your post included
Truong18

Anthony Hopkins would be great for this role.
- Reznik
  
  He's not old enough, wait nobody is because this is stupid.
TheTruth

Another fictional character from the bible being made into a movie. Cool!
- GhostWriter
  
  Oh, you're sooo cool because you think the bible is fiction.. NOT!
  - peloquin
    
    So you're saying that someone actually lived to be 1000 years old when the life expectancy was around 30 and modern medicine hadn't even been discovered yet?
    - Jericho
      
      actually around that time the life expectancy was about 400 until they started to expand and discover diseases and then re-encounter each other to have them spread and then the gene pool reduced a little bit because inbreeding was a norm until people discovered you can make a stronger child with someone not related...so its currently researched that it is possible for a man like him to have lived ALMOST 1,000 'its stated he was 960 something' ....
      - peloquin
        
        So for a disease to exist they had to discover it first? Didn't god create all living creatures including bacteria and germs in 7 days? Why would society expanding and "discovering" diseases make them non-existent prior to the discovery? Also, if we're taking the bible literally wouldn't that mean that everyone was inbred because Adam and Eve produced the entire population of the planet? The life expectancy of desert dwellers prior to the renaissance or industrial revolution was not 400 years and if you think it was then I don't have much more to say because if hundreds of years of scientific proof doesn't convince you then you're not going to be convinced by someone posting on an internet forum. "its currently researched that it is possible for a man like him to have lived ALMOST 1,000 'its stated he was 960 something'" ...I would LOVE to see that "research", I'm sure it was thoroughly peer reviewed.
      - Lando
        
        most theologians agree with science on this one, The Adam and Eve notion is genetically impossible....
      - Roderick
        
        Bible says Man used to live for hundreds of years but God saw that man was wicked and if every man lived that long, the earth would be fucked because of how much shit mankind brings into the world. So he shortened man's life span to 120 or around that number. But then again sometimes for whatever reason some animals can live for hundreds of years before dying, like there was this koi, Hanako fish that lived to be 227, died in 1977. Or a the tortoise, Adwaita who was 250 before it died. Whatever you want to believe, i think the bible is a great source of inspiration for any type of art. And whether is factual or skewed, i don't think it matters that much. I mean, how bout that Abraham Lincoln movie coming out. Who knew he was a VAMPIRE SLAYER?!?!?!
      - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ5hK-D8kRQ Crapola
        
        Are you mental?
Yrekkehs

good Taken reference
Hubert Vigilla

I'm the oldest man in the Bible. Better drink my own piss.
http://shiftlocal.wordpress.com/ Marc Callado

Biblical Avengers... imagine if they were that ambitious. The Bible is going to gain more popularity with these upcoming films. I studied religion at Cal with an emphasis on Christianity but if you asked me which character lived the longest, I would have no idea. It would be awesome if a film based on Revelations is developed.
- peloquin
  
  http://tvmedia.ign.com/tv/image/article/852/852797/SouthParkSuperBestFriends_1203642654.jpg
  - http://shiftlocal.wordpress.com/ Marc Callado
    
    That team would dominate the Avengers and Justice League! LOL
- Roderick
  
  They made sucky movies back in the 90s, called Left behind. I read the first book, it was pretty decent, but technology and special effects were pretty shitty back then. But I'd totally agree with you. If they adapted, Piercing the Darkness by Frank Peretti into a movie now. THAT THING WOULD BE SOOOOOOOOO AWESOME!!! Freaken angels and Demons going all out would be so great to see.
  - http://shiftlocal.wordpress.com/ Marc Callado
    
    Left behind, is that the one with Kirk Cameron? (I guess I can Google it, but its fun to continue a discussion). I'll look into Piercing the Darkness, never heard of it.
    - Roderick
      
      Yea dude. Its with Kirk Cameron. Not really a fan of christian films because most of them are so bad. But i would definitely check out Piercing the Darkness. Frank Peretti is a pretty amazing christian fiction writer. He does a lot of horror books. But Piercing the Darkness is probably oen of my favorite books of all time. Some of the scenes he writes in that book are so epic and just waiting to be made into a big budget special effects action film. Who knows.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=642001800 Enrique Rivas

I'm confused. How is Black Swan associated with the Bible?