Wow, ok. Biblical epics are floating around every major Hollywood studio right now, and they all have some pretty major talent involved. Steven Spielberg has Gods and Kings; Darren Aronofsky has his Noah; and both 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers are racing to bring a Moses story to theaters, with Ridley Scott circling the former's effort. For the most part, these seem to be pretty harmless efforts, at least while they're in such early stages of development. One that's on the horizon, however, is guaranteed to ruffle a few feathers now that it has found funding.
Fans of Paul Verhoever(Robocop) know that the director has always had an obsession with studying the life of Jesus Christ. He spent more than twenty years of his life researching what would ultimately be his book on the subject, Jesus of Nazareth, which was released in 2010. In it, Verhoeven presents a picture of Jesus as simply a man, a mortal with flaws, charisma, and an intellect that helped spread Christianity around the world. Gone are all the miracles, and in their place is a totally secular view of Jesus Christ. While this will likely have some people up in arms, what's really going to twist a few nipples is the idea that Jesus Christ was conceived when his mother was raped by a Roman soldier. It also presents the idea that Jesus was a practitioner of exorcisms(Linda Blair cameo?), and had no idea of the death sentence that was in his future. Verhoeven has been trying to get the film biopic rolling for awhile, and now Deadline reports that Chris Hanley of Muse Production is ponying up the cash for the production. So now the difficult task of casting Jesus can begin. Channing Tatum on the wishlist yet?
Roger Avary(Pulp Fiction) will adapt the novel, marking the Academy Award winning scribe's first work since 2007's Beowulf. Verhoeven as well has been out of the game for a bit, with 2006's ludicrous Nazi flick, Black Book, being his last major effort.
