Taylor Lautner And Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Could Be Your David And Goliath

Whenever I picture the story of David and Goliath (which is not often), the characters look in my mind's eye like old-timey illustrations out of a children's Bible or a classic painting. Although I love a good round of fantasy casting as much as the next movie geek, it's just never occurred to me to consider which modern-day actors might fit the parts.

As the director of Relativity's Goliath, however, Scott Derrickson has been tasked with doing just that. And the names he's come up with so far are, apparently, Dwayne Johnson for Goliath and Twilight star Taylor Lautner for David. Hmm. Read more after the jump.

The project has been described as a period actioner "with contemporary sensibilities," which is apparently Hollywood talk for "like 300, or The Bourne Identity."

Here's a synopsis for Goliath, as quoted in a previous story:

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.

Johnson as Goliath seems like pitch-perfect casting. He's exactly the kind of hulking, menacing figure you'd expect to see playing a ruthless warrior. I'm less sold on Lautner as David. I just don't see a "young shepherd" when I look at Lautner, much less a puny one who makes an unlikely match for the big, scary Goliath. It's certainly possible he'll slim down for the part, but it seems like Lautner generally likes to beef up for his action roles. (All the better for making teen girls swoon when he inevitably rips his shirt off, of course.) If we've got two musclebound dudes facing off, well, that's really not the David and Goliath story at all.

Discuss: What say you? Would Lautner and Johnson make a good David and Goliath? (I'm sorry I chose such a smarmy-looking photo for Lautner above — try not to hold it against him too much.)