Rabbi David Wolpe of L.A.’s Sinai Temple was pleasantly surprised when the call came that Warner Bros., along with Gulfstream Pictures, was optioning his new book, “David: The Divided Heart,” to be developed into a screenplay.
Rabbi David Wolpe
Wolpe — once named by Newsweek as the most influential rabbi in America — is the author of seven previous books, including “Why Faith Matters” and “Making Loss Matter: Creating Meaning in Difficult Times.” But “David” is the first of his tomes to be picked up by Hollywood.
“It’s a kick,” Wolpe said in a recent interview. “It’s just so much fun that it would even be possible.”
The option is part of a Hollywood trend in which studios are churning out biblical epics with tentpole films: movies expected to turn a quick profit, often accompanied by merchandise tie-ins.
Think Darren Aronofsky’s “Noah” earlier this year and Ridley Scott’s upcoming “Exodus: Gods and Kings,” starring Christian Bale as Moses and slated to hit theaters on Dec. 12. There’s even another King David project in the works, this one also in Scott’s hands, at 20th Century Fox.
This article was reprinted from the L.A. Jewish Journal. To view the full story, visit