After the awards glory of Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle had a relatively peculiar last decade. Following biographical dramas like 127 Hours and Steve Jobs to a Trainspotting sequel to oddities like Trance and the crowdpleaser Yesterday, he was about to embark on his biggest production yet with James Bond. While that didn’t work out, he’s now planning another studio tentpole and has a star attached.
Variety reports that Michael B. Jordan will lead Danny Boyle’s new take on Methuselah. Scripted by frequent collaborator Simon Beaufoy, based on an earlier draft by Tony Gilroy and a treatment by James Watkins, its a retelling of the Biblical story of the 969-year old man, who was the grandfather of Noah. There’s no word yet if Boyle and team are eying a modern-day update to the setting, but it will be a “new approach” to the story, so don’t expect the standard swords-and-sandal epic.
Warner Bros. is developing this as a potential franchise and it’ll likely be Boyle’s next film. Michael B. Jordan will be taking a role in the long-gestating project that was once circled by Tom Cruise. He’ll also be seen in David O. Russell’s next project and has been rumored to be in talks for Damien Chazelle’s Babylon.