{"id":56956,"date":"2018-02-02T13:10:15","date_gmt":"2018-02-02T21:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?p=56956"},"modified":"2018-02-02T13:10:15","modified_gmt":"2018-02-02T21:10:15","slug":"newsbites-upcoming-jesus-messiah-movie-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2018\/02\/newsbites-upcoming-jesus-messiah-movie-edition.html","title":{"rendered":"Newsbites: The upcoming Jesus- or Messiah-movie edition!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here are four quick items about upcoming Jesus-themed films and TV shows.<\/p>\n

1.<\/a> Baz Bamigboye<\/a> has apparently seen Mary Magdalene<\/a><\/i>, which opens in the UK on March 16 (its North American release is currently in limbo<\/a>), and he likes what he sees. The Daily Mail<\/i> columnist also spoke to two of the film\u2019s producers:<\/p>\n

\u2018There\u2019s no evidence in the Bible that Mary was a prostitute,\u2019 insisted Iain Canning, who produced the film with Emile Sherman, his partner at See-Saw Films. \u2018We wanted to set the record straight \u2014 and about time,\u2019 Canning added. The project got going when Katherine Bridle, head of development at See-Saw, was tasked with coming up with ideas for films led by women. Her list of historical female figures happened to include Mary Magdalene. Canning added: \u2018I think so often in film-making, women are defined by their sexual relationship with a man and we decided that we were absolutely clear that wasn\u2019t the case here.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course, this wouldn\u2019t be the first film that steers clear of the western tradition that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute \u2014 The Bible<\/a><\/i> and its spin-offs definitely steered clear of it too \u2014 but still, it\u2019s good to see that other filmmakers are following their lead.<\/p>\n

And it sounds like this film might also steer clear of The Da Vinci Code<\/a><\/i>-style theories about Jesus\u2019s sex life. It sounds<\/i> like the connection between Jesus and Mary Magdalene in this film will be more spiritual than anything else. Here\u2019s hoping!<\/p>\n

2.<\/a> Jim Caviezel, in the course of promoting Paul, Apostle of Christ<\/a><\/i> (opens March 28), has revealed that he will<\/i> be playing Jesus again in Mel Gibson\u2019s proposed sequel to The Passion of the Christ<\/a><\/i>, tentatively titled The Resurrection<\/i>. USA Today<\/a><\/i> reports:<\/p>\n

Caviezel, 49, confirmed he will reprise his role as Jesus in the planned film about the resurrection of Christ. \u201cThere are things that I cannot say that will shock the audience,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s great. Stay tuned.\u201d . . .<\/p>\n

\u201cI won\u2019t tell you how he\u2019s going to go about it,\u201d Caviezel says. \u201cBut I\u2019ll tell you this much: The film he\u2019s going to do is going to be the biggest film in history. It\u2019s that good.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the two years that Gibson has been talking openly about The Resurrection<\/i>, he has hinted that it will have demons from Dante\u2019s Inferno<\/i><\/a> and flashbacks to the Old Testament<\/a>. Time will tell whether either of those things are still part of the movie.<\/p>\n

3.<\/a> Variety<\/a><\/i> reports that Mehdi Dehbi, a Belgian of Tunisian descent, has been cast in the lead role of Mark Burnett and Roma Downey\u2019s Netflix series Messiah<\/a><\/i>:<\/p>\n

The series will chronicle the modern world\u2019s reaction to a man who first appears in the Middle East creating a groundswell of followers around him claiming he is the Messiah. Dehbi will star as Al Massih. His character is described as an enigma with mysterious origins. People are unsure if he is a divine messenger or a political rabble-rouser. When he disappears from an Israeli interrogation cell with no explanation, his legend begins to grow.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Other actors who have joined the cast include John Ortiz<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n

Ortiz plays Felix, smart, humble and unassuming on the outside. Though blessed with a strong faith and a loving family, Felix struggles with his lot in life leading a tiny, uninspired congregation in a border town in Texas where he assumes he will live out the rest of his days. Felix\u2019s life is about to change as he gets swept up into Al-Massih\u2019s world. With growing power comes corruption and Felix must choose between remaining true to himself or going down a darker path.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2026and Tomer Sisley<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Sisley will play Avrim Dahan, an embittered Shin Bet operative who is violent, aggressive, a non-believer who is fighting for the protection of his country and nothing else. He has done some shameful things in the fight against terrorism.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Netflix is planning to release the series sometime in 2019.<\/p>\n

Finally, since I haven\u2019t said anything about this here at the blog yet:<\/p>\n

4.<\/a> It was revealed a couple months ago that John Legend will play Jesus<\/a> in NBC\u2019s live broadcast of Jesus Christ Superstar<\/a><\/i> on April 1, while Sara Bareilles will play Mary Magdalene and famed shock-rocker\/Sunday-school-teacher\/avid-golfer Alice Cooper will play Herod. We do not yet know who will be playing Judas, who is arguably the musical\u2019s central character (he performs the first song and<\/i> the title song, at any rate).<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brief updates on Mary Magdalene<\/i>, Messiah<\/i>, Jesus Christ Superstar Live!<\/i> and The Passion of the Christ 2<\/i>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":57006,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[3493,860,4233,3331,345,678,4254,1042,4239,4248,4236,428,4161,4245,4194,189,3969,4242,4251],"class_list":["post-56956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-alice-cooper","tag-antipas","tag-baz-bamigboye","tag-iain-canning","tag-jesus","tag-jesus-christ-superstar","tag-jesus-christ-superstar-live","tag-jim-caviezel","tag-john-legend","tag-john-ortiz","tag-katherine-bridle","tag-mary-magdalene","tag-mary-magdalene-2018","tag-mehdi-dehbi","tag-messiah-2019","tag-passion-of-the-christ","tag-resurrection-gibson","tag-sara-bareilles","tag-tomer-sisley"],"yoast_head":"\nNewsbites: The upcoming Jesus- or Messiah-movie edition!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Brief updates on Mary Magdalene, Messiah, Jesus Christ Superstar Live! and The Passion of the Christ 2.\" \/>\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\/2018\/02\/newsbites-upcoming-jesus-messiah-movie-edition.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Newsbites: The upcoming Jesus- or Messiah-movie edition!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Brief updates on Mary Magdalene, Messiah, Jesus Christ Superstar Live! and The Passion of the Christ 2.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2018\/02\/newsbites-upcoming-jesus-messiah-movie-edition.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FilmChat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-02-02T21:10:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/227\/2018\/02\/marymagdalene-photo3-a.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"311\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter T. 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