The Dark Knight’s Christian Bale may be appearing in theaters in ‘Out of the Furnace’ as the determined brother of Casey Affleck, but the veteran performer is already hard at work on his next role. Bale is currently working on director Ridley Scott’s ‘Exodus’ where he will play Moses in the story that chronicles the Israelites’ departure from Egypt under the guidance of the prophet.

In a recent interview with HitFix, Bale shared that Scott’s ‘Exodus’ will be dramatically different than that of ‘The Ten Commandments’, the 1950’s drama with Charlton Heston in the role of Moses from director Cecil B. DeMille. “It’s an intriguing piece, because it’s very few people that I’ve met that have actually read the Torah, the Pentateuch, the five books of Moses, all the way through. Most people read snippets. If you read it all the way through, it’s harsh. It’s really ‘Old Testament.’ And violence in the extreme. He was not a man of any half measures whatsoever.” Adding, “There’s a lot of shocking stuff about it.”

Alien’s Sigourney Weaver and Aaron Paul of ‘Breaking Bad’ also star in the film along with a cast ensemble that includes Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley and John Turturro. ‘Exodus’ will open in theaters on Dec. 12, 2014. The cast and crew are currently filming on location in Spain.