Right there's two angles to this - the social aspect and neglect of non-white individuals; the other about film financing in general.
I think it's likely those conversations with creditors probably went something along the lines of, how can you make this not exactly popular sounding idea for a movie appeal to the widest audience, and it probably ended up with lots of star names who happened to be white. Not saying Scott did anything to change their minds but if you look at the production companies behind the movie you'll find there were 5, including Scott's own production company. It sounds like a bit of a messy system and I can see how it ended up with this sort of whitewashing.
I actually think though your point is very apt for this thread. Marvel, for all their detractors, do seem to one of the few big production companies able and willing to promote non-white actors in big-budget movies. They've harnessed an audience who're more open to seeing non-white actors in leading roles, even if they're still often peripheral figures and not the star ones. A biblical epic like Exodus: Gods and Kings, which seems as close to a tentpole movie of the cinemascope era as you can get, isn't going to lead that particular debate despite its source material.
Either way, I hope this doesn't sound too flippant because I mostly agree with you and, as I mentioned, think Scott is a bit of a dinosaur in the film world.
Edit - And yes it's undeniable Hollywood does indeed have a history of whitewashing.
Other than Scott bluntness, I'm not sure whats wrong here. He was just telling the truth, it's shitty that this was the case but it's a fault of the system and Scott job is to make movies. Exodus: Gods and Kings wouldn't have been funded without big hollywood stars. It's pretty much the same for Scott new film House Of Gucci, all the lead roles are american actors and it includes one of the worlds biggest pop stars as the main star. That movie wouldn't have been made if it was to include only Italian actors.
Tbh I find the whole modern whitewashing/only people from certain backgrounds can play certain roles argument to be a bit useless and very selective. Are you annoyed that there are no Italian actors in the main roles for the House Of Gucci ? If it's racist/bad for Christian Bale to play Moses then do you also have an issue with Denzel Washington playing Macbeth or Daniel Kaluuya playing Fred Hampton in Judas And The Black Messiah ? I mean The Egyptian Lover isn't even from Egypt!
The goal imo is to let creative people have the space and freedom to create works however they want. It's a fault of the system(Capitalism bad etc....)that even great directors like Scott still can't.
You both make fair points. However, on this movie in particular, I'm just going to reiterate where Ridley Scott went with some of his choices. I can
maybe make an exception for Bale as he's the headliner, but look at some of these other choices.
Joel Egderton as Ramses
Sigourney Weaver as Tuya (mother of Ramses)
Ben Mendelson as an Egyptian minister
John Tuturro as Pharoah
I mean, are you seriously saying he's unable to get actual ME/Egyptian or otherwise actor for those roles? The actual Egyptian/black actors in this movies are not even your secondary characters, but the background extras type. It's a bit of a slap in the face considering the spotlight being on the whitewashing of Hollywood long before this.
There's a few other things about Ridley Scott's comments that irk me as well. He gave Weaver, an unheard of name at the time, the lead in Alien (nothing wrong with that of course, and no issues re funding and creditors [but I do think would he have done that if Weaver wasn't a white woman?]). In the years gone by, Ridley Scott is as big as you can get when it comes to reputation in Hollywood - surely now is the time for him to set good examples. His name attached to any movie is going to gain traction, more so than a new director starting out. Why wouldn't he use his reach and power now to actually give PoC good roles in big Hollywood productions?
Also -
@Sweet Square you mention Denzel as Macbeth, Kaluuya as Hampton and I'll even mention Dev Patel playing an Arthurian legend as well. I don't have a problem with any of these, because unlike white actors, PoC have always had it harder in Hollywood for these types of roles. And secondly, the casts of Macbeth isn't full of just black actors. The Green Knight isn't just asian actors. Exodus is only full of white American/European actors.