Exodus: Ridley Scott explains 'racist' Gods and Kings casting

Ridley Scott has reignited the controversy surrounding his casting decisions for the film Exodus: Gods and Kings by saying it would have been impossible to finance the movie if the lead actor was "Mohammad so-and-so".

The film, due out next month, has already caused outrage for what critics call its "whitewashing" of African history, due to a lack of ethnic diversity in the casting.

The story tells the biblical tale of how Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land, but the main roles have been given to actors such as Christian Bale, Aaron Paul and Sigourney Weaver.

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"Not only are all the main characters white, but the servants, thieves and assassins are played by Africans," said writer and editor David Dennis Jr who argues that the film promotes negative black stereotypes and denies black actors leading roles. "This is cinematic colonialism [..] and is racist as sh*t.

"While Ridley Scott may think he's just making a movie, he's participating in this crippling structure of subjugation and Hollywood is footing the bill for it," writes Dennis.

Responding to the criticism, the 76-year-old British director said: "I can't mount a film of this budget and say that my lead actor is Mohammad so-and-so from such-and-such."

I'm just not going to get it financed. So the question doesn't even come up," he told Variety.

Scott previously said he had been "sensitive" in casting actors from a range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds, but that "there are many different theories about the ethnicity of the Egyptian people".

White Australian actor Joel Edgerton who plays the pharaoh Ramses told SBS he could "empathise" with the arguments, but he said he was not responsible for casting and did not want to turn the role down.

Scott's most recent comments have reignited the social media campaign calling on the public to boycott the film.