Steven Spielberg Could Direct Moses Film 'Gods And Kings'

Semantics are always a struggle in film reporting. People are "interested," "circling," "offered" or "in talks" for projects all the time but none of those words specifically mean they are doing the movie. Plus, until the cameras start rolling, nothing is definite. For example, a few months back, we reported that Warner Bros. was "interested" in having Steven Spielberg direct their epic story of Moses called Gods and Kings. The problem with that is, who isn't interested in working with Spielberg? Germain Lussier is interested in starring in a Spielberg movie but that doesn't mean it's going to happen.

It seems now, though, Warner's "interest" has evolved to "talks" which means the legendary director is a significant step closer to adding the epic tale to his list of upcoming projects. Read more after the jump.

Twitchfilm exclusively reported that Spielberg and Warner Bros. "have now entered into formal talks for the job." That's a major step and, with the scope of this movie, money doesn't seem like it'll be much of a problem.Gods and Kings is written by Michael Green and Stuart Hazeldine and tells the full life story of Moses. We're talking Hebrew slaves struggling against Egypt; the exodus of Egypt; the Burning Bush and, of course, parting the Red Sea.

If Spielberg does agree to do the film, though, timing will be a major issue. He's currently (or will be very soon) in production on Lincoln and will then head to Montreal to shoot Robopocalypse over the Summer. Both of those films have release dates locked in, late 2012 for Lincoln and July 2013 for Robopocalypse. So the earliest he'd be able to shoot Gods and Kings would be early 2013. It's not like the story of Moses has an expiration date but if Warners wants to get the ball rolling soon, Spielberg might not be the best choice.

Then again, he's Steven Spielberg and that's more important than any release date. Do you think it's time for Spielberg to do a big, period epic?