Why God is big bucks at the box office

Forget vampires and witches, Hollywood is going back to that eternal favourite - biblical epics. Audiences have grown weary of super-heroes according to a feature in 'The Sunday Times' newspaper.

Emulating the success of 1950s classics such as 'The Ten Commandments' and 'Ben Hur', biblical epics worth £700m are going into production at the big studios in Los Angeles.

These include 'Noah', a  £90m film starring Russell Crowe as Noah, Anthony Hopkins as Methuselah (the Bible's oldest man at 969), and Emma Watson as the love interest of Noah's son Shem.

Directed by Darren Aronofsky, 'Noah' features "watchers' - menacing 18-ft six-armed angels. According to one of the film's producers, Scott Franklin: "Noah is a very short section of the Bible with a lot of gaps. But I think we stayed very true to the story and didn't really deviate from the Bible, despite the six-armed angels."

There is a planned film about Jesus of Nazareth by Dutch film maker Paul Verhoeven ('Showgirls', 'RoboCop'), which is expected to suggest controversially that the Messiah was fathered by a Roman centurion.

Will Smith is tipped to star in a horror film version of the Cain and Abel story, which has been described as "an epic retelling of the sibling tale, this time with a vampire twist".

Look out for a new 'David and Goliath' starring wrestler-turned actor Dwane "The Rock" Johnson as the Philistine and 'Twilight''s Taylor Lautner as the shepherd boy.

Brad Pitt is said to be taking the title role in a Warners Bros biopic called 'Pontius Pilate' about the Roman judge who sent Christ to the cross.

MGM, which made films of 'Ben-Hur' in 1925 and 1959, last month commissioned a third version. While Sir Ridley Scott and Steven Spielberg may launch rival versions of 'Moses'. Scott's project entitled 'Exodus', and Spelberg's provisionally called 'Of Gods and Kings' are both at an early stage.

Paul Degarabedian, president of Hollywood.com's box office analysis division says that despite the risk of causing offence religious movies, could prove financially successful.

"You have a built-in audience and brand recognition. Middle America will go to see your movie if it looks fresh and entertaining and not too far off the proven path."