Newsbites: The vaguely religious edition!

Time to get a few backlogged items off my plate.

1. MTV Splash Page has deemed this “Magdalena Week”, in honour of the upcoming movie based on the comic book about a female superhero who is descended from Jesus and Mary Magdalene. In today’s introductory post, actress Jenna Dewan says the film will downplay the character’s Catholic background, making her more of a “spiritual” fighter than a “religious” fighter. — MTV Splash Page

2. Rex Mundi creator Arvid Nelson has posted some thoughts on what it’s like to work with Hollywood — and he wants us all to know that his comic book, which concerns the Holy Grail and a possible descendant of Jesus, was published three years before The Da Vinci Code. — MTV Splash Page

3. I know almost nothing about Dalton Trumbo’s novel Johnny Got His Gun beyond the fact that the 1971 film version, directed by Trumbo himself, featured Donald Sutherland as Jesus. (Sutherland was nominated for a Golden Turkey Award for his efforts.) The book was adapted into a play in 1982, and now Ben McKenzie is starring in a feature-film version of that play, which is set to debut later this month. I have no idea if Jesus will make an appearance in the new film, let alone who might play him. — Variety

4. There is a new book out on the brouhaha over The Last Temptation of Christ (1988); written by Thomas R. Lindlof, it is called Hollywood Under Siege: Martin Scorsese, the Religious Right, and the Culture Wars. I wonder how it will compare to Robin Riley’s Film, Faith, and Cultural Conflict: The Case of Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ. — Bible Films Blog

5. The last time I mentioned Steve Taylor‘s adaptation of Blue Like Jazz here, it was supposed to start shooting in May of this year. But now Taylor says the filming has been put on hold due to a lack of funding. — CT Movies

6. Tim Roth will play a “half owl, half angel” in an adaptation of the children’s book Skellig. — Hollywood Reporter