Michael B. Jordan will produce and star in a “Methuselah” movie for Warner Bros., based on the Biblical story of a man who lived to be 969 years old.
Jordan will produce through his Outlier Society production company along with Heyday’s David Heyman and Jeffrey Clifford.
Warner Bros. has been developing the project for many years with Will Smith and Tom Cruise interested in the project. Zach Dean wrote an early script after coming on to the project in 2014. The most recent draft was written by Tony Gilroy.
Methuselah is referenced in the Book of Genesis as the son of Enoch, who lived to be 365 years old. The scripts have focused on Methuselah’s survival skills.Jordan is working with New Regency as a producer on an untitled monster movie from “Kong: Skull Island” director Jordan Vogt-Roberts.
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.
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 a courtroom drama titled Just Mercy alongside Jamie Foxx and Captain Marvel‘s Brie Larson and 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 September 18, 2020 release.
Jordan broke out as Oscar Grant in the drama “Fruitvale Station” and portrayed boxer Adonis Creed in the two “Rocky” sequels. He played the antagonist Erik Killmonger in last year’s hit “Black Panther.” Jordan and Outlier Society are represented by WME. The news about “Methuselah” was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.
