{"id":1451,"date":"2007-07-20T20:07:00","date_gmt":"2007-07-20T20:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/07\/bill-maher-on-his-religion-docu-comedy\/"},"modified":"2007-07-20T20:07:00","modified_gmt":"2007-07-20T20:07:00","slug":"bill-maher-on-his-religion-docu-comedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/07\/bill-maher-on-his-religion-docu-comedy.html","title":{"rendered":"Bill Maher on his religion docu-comedy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Bill Maher talks to Entertainment Weekly<\/a><\/i> about that documentary on religion<\/a> he recently shot with Borat<\/a><\/i> director Larry Charles:<\/span><\/p>\n

What about the documentary about religion you\u2019ve shot with Larry Charles? People are already talking about it.<\/b>
It\u2019s funny that everybody wants to know about this and there isn\u2019t even a movie made yet. [Larry\u2019s] cutting it right now. The 10-minute reel that we showed at Cannes caused such a stir there, [the movie] immediately sold to 20 different countries. And Lionsgate<\/a> bought it just on the strength of [the reel]. And I must say, we came back from [shooting it on] the road, and it was a long, grueling trip for me. I\u2019m not used to going overseas, and getting up at the crack of dawn to do a movie , but it was worth it. Although when I got back to America in February, to go back to my day job, I kind of forgot about it. And we shot hundreds and hundreds of hours. I didn\u2019t know what the heck to expect when, finally around May, Larry showed me this 10-minute reel. But it was hysterical.<\/p>\n

How many countries did you visit?<\/b>
It seems like we went everywhere there was religion: Jerusalem, Vatican City, Salt Lake City. We went everyplace from the Vatican to a truck-stop church in a trailer in South Carolina. We really covered the gamut.<\/p>\n

Because Larry Charles filmed it, I picture you playing Borat \u2014 only you\u2019re not playing anyone at all.<\/b>
Yeah. I mean, it\u2019s hard not to, I know. But no, I was just my congenial, charming self. [Laughs<\/i>]<\/p>\n

Are people going to be offended?<\/b>
I certainly hope so.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Variety<\/a><\/i> also spoke to Maher last week \u2014 and Charles too \u2014 on the occasion of Lionsgate\u2019s purchase of the distribution rights:<\/p>\n

Even though religion is the flashpoint for wars, terrorism and much global tension, Charles said he and Maher were determined to find a way to make the subject funny. They filmed in Israel and other Middle East hot spots in shoots that made the guerilla-style production of \u201cBorat\u201d seem like a cakewalk.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing in a place like Israel, you can feel how violence exists just under the surface of mundane life,\u201d Charles told Daily Variety<\/i>. \u201cThe trick here is, the darker and more serious the subject, the more absurd and funny it is when you push and the humor reveals itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maher said: \u201cComedically, the topic of religion is hitting the side of a barn; it\u2019s literally hard to miss. This movie will make you laugh so hard you\u2019ll pray for it to stop.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In related news, The Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/i> reports that TVA Films<\/a> has bought the Canadian distribution rights to the film.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bill Maher talks to Entertainment Weekly about that documentary on religion he recently shot with Borat director Larry Charles: What about the documentary about religion you\u2019ve shot with Larry Charles? People are already talking about it.It\u2019s funny that everybody wants to know about this and there isn\u2019t even a movie made yet. [Larry\u2019s] cutting it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nBill Maher on his religion docu-comedy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bill Maher talks to Entertainment Weekly about that documentary on religion he recently shot with Borat director Larry Charles:What about the documentary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/07\/bill-maher-on-his-religion-docu-comedy.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bill Maher on his religion docu-comedy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bill Maher talks to Entertainment Weekly about that documentary on religion he recently shot with Borat director Larry Charles:What about the documentary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/07\/bill-maher-on-his-religion-docu-comedy.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FilmChat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-07-20T20:07:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter T. 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