The Warner Bros. historical drama Methuselah has seen a laundry list of directors and stars attached to it over the years and after landing Michael B. Jordan (Creed II) to star last year, the project is getting back on track as Danny Boyle (Sunshine) has been tapped to helm and potentially rewrite the script, according to Variety.
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Methuselah takes its name from the Biblical character Methuselah, who was said to have lived over 900 years, but sources are reporting the new creative team may be looking to head in a different direction. In a similar way, Jordan’s central character would be centuries old in spite of looking relatively young. He would be a highly-skilled survivor who also possesses impressive intelligence as a result of his long life allowing him to accumulate more knowledge than the average human.
The most recent version of the script was penned by Tony Gilroy (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), based on an original treatment by James Watkins (McMafia), but Boyle is being eyed to rewrite the script for the project. Warner Bros. is reportedly seeking to fast-track the film in hopes of starting a new franchise after the success of the Creed franchise starring Jordan.
Not much else is known at this time about the film. In the years that Methuselah has been in development, a number of writers and actors have gone in and out of the project’s metaphorical revolving door. Tom Cruise, who has experienced impressive longevity as an action star, was previously attached, as well as Joachim Rønning (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) and Jon Watts (Spider-Man: Far From Home).
Though Jordan has not yet reached the star power of Cruise, his meteoric rise is without question. His three biggest films Creed, Black Panther and Creed II have all come in the last four years and altogether brought in more than a billion and a half dollars at the box office. An undeniable rising star like Jordan may indeed be enough to finally get this project out of development purgatory and into production.
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Beyond the film in question, Jordan has a lot on the horizon. His production company Outlier Society will be producing a “creature feature” set in Detroit, Michigan directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, the filmmaker behind Kong: Skull Island. Jordan is also playing a role in a number of upcoming films, including the Denzel Washington-directed Journal for Jordan. He will also be playing CIA operative John Clark in the forthcoming Tom Clancy adaptation Without Remorse, which is set for a October 2, 2020 release.
