Will Smith May Make Directorial Debut on Cain and Abel Film

Yet another Biblical epic from some big name talent looks to be in the works.  Will Smith is eyeing a big screen iteration of the Cain and Abel story as his directorial debut.  The project has been in development for some time with the working title The Redemption of Cain, and when Smith first flirted with the idea of starring the pic was described as a vampiric take on the Biblical tale.  That version of the script was written by Caleeb Pinkett (Jada Pinkett Smith’s brother) and Dan Knauf (Carnavale), but there’s no word on how the project has changed over the years or if it still even involves vampires. Hit the jump for more.

Via Deadline’s report, the Cain and Abel project isn’t expected to be Smith’s next film, but he’s apparently keen on directing and likely starring in the feature.  If Smith does indeed move forward with this as a directing vehicle it will likely be a few years before we see it come to fruition.  The actor will next be seen alongside his son, Jaden, in M. Night Shyamalan’s sci-fi pic After Earth.

This Cain and Abel film adds to the pile of gestating Biblical epics.  Furthest along is Darren Aronofsky’s Noah, which starts production in a matter of weeks.  That film stars Russell Crowe as the titular ark builder, and Aronofsky shared an image of the under-construction ark just yesterday, which looks positively enormous.  Also in development is a Moses project with Steven Spielberg attached to direct.  He’s next helming Robopocalypse later this year, but the gritty Moses epic called Gods and Kings is also on the horizon.  Ridley Scott is developing a Moses project of his own, but he’s also attached to roughly 137 other films so who knows if that will ever come to fruition.