Martin Scorsese Is Starting Work on Another Film About Jesus After Meeting With the Pope
Over the weekend, director Martin Scorsese met with Pope Francis, and after that meeting, the filmmaker announced that he will be starting work on another film about Jesus Christ. Scorsese and his wife met with The Pope during a brief private audience at the Vatican before attending the conference, “The Global Aesthetics of the Catholic Imagination.”
After that meeting, Scorsese made the following announcement:
“I have responded to the Pope’s appeal to artists in the only way I know how: by imagining and writing a screenplay for a film about Jesus, and I’m about to start making it.”
So it seems like this film about Jesus will be his next project. This will be Scorsese’s second project about Jesus. In 1988 he helmed The Last Temptation of Christ, this next film will be a much different take, though.
The Last Temptation of Christ starred Willem Dafoe as Jesus, and the story focused on Jesus doubting his role as Messiah, as he was tempted by visions of an ordinary life. It was based on a 1955 book by Nikos Kazantzakis, who was excommunicated by the Greek Orthodox Church after he wrote it. As you might imagine, both the book and Scorsese's film were condemned by Christian groups and banned by the Catholic Church, something other Christians and most scholars have questioned, since the Bible does depict Jesus asking God to lift his burden, before ultimately accepting his fate.
It will be interesting to see what Scorses will do with his new film about Jesus. One thing if for sure, the Christian film market is huge, and a movie like this could be a huge success. Just look at how successful Mel Gobson’s The Passion of the Christ was.
Source: Variety