EXCLUSIVE: 'Exorcism of Emily Rose' Director Scott Derrickson Taking on 'Goliath'

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Director Scott Derrickson is getting his slingshot ready for Goliath, a new take on the David vs. Goliath Biblical tale from Relativity Media.

Ryan Kavanaugh of Relativity as well as Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen of Temple Hill are producing what will be a period action movie made with contemporary sensibilities.

Relativity and the producers plan on taking the script, written by John D. Payne and Patrick McKay, and give it a modern vibe that harkens to the spirit of films such as 300 and The Bourne Identity.

The story is set in motion when the fierce warrior Goliath is sent to track down a foretold king of the Israelites. A young shepherd David is thrust into an epic chase and adventure fighting for his own life, the lives of his loved ones and eventually the lives of his people. The story climaxes in a battle of literal Biblical proportions between the young man and the giant sent to destroy him.

Derrickson, repped by WME, Brillstein Entertainment Partners and attorney Karl Austen, is best known for helming supernatural thriller The Exorcism of Emily Rose. He last directed 2008’s The Day the Earth Stood Still and is attached to direct  the sci-fi family movie The Substitute, set up at Columbia with Sam Raimi’s Ghost House producing.

Temple Hill is the production company behind the Twilight Saga movies. The shingle began production last week on Ten Year, an ensemble drama whose cast consists of Channing Tatum, Kate Mara, Justin Long, and Anna Faris. Goliath would be Temple Hill's second Bible tale, after 2006's The Nativity Story.