Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, the producers behind the popular History Channel miniseries The Bible, have come to an agreement with 20th Century Fox to distribute a feature film titled Son of God based on the series. However, the film will not portray the entire Bible as the miniseries did. The film will show only the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Portuguese actor Diogo Morgado, who portrayed Jesus Christ in the miniseries, is set to return as the adult Jesus in Son of God.
There are a few details still being worked on before the agreement can be completely fulfilled, but one detail that has been revealed is Son of God is essentially a reboot of Jesus' story from the miniseries. The only difference is there will be scenes added that were originally cut from the miniseries before it aired on the History Channel. Due to the popularity of the miniseries, 20th Century Fox is betting on the film to be equally as popular among a faith-based audience, as well as potentially draw in a wider audience. The Bible miniseries drew in an average of 15 million plus viewers each week and is now being distributed overseas.
Burnett and Downey are also working on a followup series to be aired on NBC titled AD: Beyond the Bible. No word yet on when that series is set to be aired.
As a Christian, I am excited to see the miniseries get the big screen treatment. Shows like The Bible miniseries and films such as Son of God are potentially able to reach audiences not typically drawn to faith-based films. The TV miniseries garnered a bit of controversy as it took creative license in a direction that some have argued strayed too far from the original text. Personally, I still think it ended up being accurate enough that it did not take away from the core message of the Biblical text. As long as the creative license does not negate the theology found in the Bible, then I am ok with certain creative changes.
Since the news just came out about Son of God, there is no official release date for the film. However, Mark Burnett and Roma Downey are hoping to have the film make its way into theaters next year.
Source: Variety
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