Will Smith really wants a crack at the ancient history epic, and this time it looks like he's going to get it. According to Variety, Smith has hired the go-to guy for historical epics, Randall Wallace, to pen The Last Pharaoh for him to star in.It won't actually be about the last pharaoh of Egypt (Cleopatra still holds that distinction),
but Taharqa, a member of the Nubian dynasty of Egypt, who ruled from 690 to 664 B.C.E. Mentioned by Greek historian Strabo as one of the greatest military tacticians in the world, he's believed to be Tirhakah, king of Ethopia, who's mentioned in the Old Testament as driving Assyrian king Sennacherib away from destroying Jerusalem. Taharqa wasn't just a fighter, though -- he was devoted to peaceful works like restoring temples, and building sanctuaries all over Nubia and Egypt. Nevertheless, his biggest claim to fame is fighting the Assyrians, who invaded Egypt in 677. He didn't exactly defeat them -- they took Memphis and established the 26th dynasty, and Taharqa was driven back to Nubia, where he died in 664.
It definitely has the potential of an action packed story, but I'm curious as to how it's going to be fleshed out. With Wallace (nearly) at the helm, I am willing to bet Taharqa will become a mix of King Leonidas and William Wallace. The saving of Jerusalem is, I think, the high point of the story and has the most historical relevance ... but it's not as romantic as defending one's homeland, and that's reportedly what the film will focus on. And Wallace's scripts tend to be heavy on the romance, iffy on the accuracy. Still, it will be very interesting to see Smith in a sword-and-sandals epic, and I'll watch ancients hack each other onscreen anytime. What about you?
1. Hell yes. I'd love to see another Ancient Egyptian epic. I hope this one is good.
Posted at 10:12AM on Sep 8th 2008 by David Fendley