{"id":738,"date":"2008-07-31T22:49:00","date_gmt":"2008-07-31T22:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2008\/07\/newsbites-xenophon-nefertiti-joan-jesus\/"},"modified":"2008-07-31T22:49:00","modified_gmt":"2008-07-31T22:49:00","slug":"newsbites-xenophon-nefertiti-joan-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2008\/07\/newsbites-xenophon-nefertiti-joan-jesus.html","title":{"rendered":"Newsbites: Xenophon! Nefertiti! Joan! Jesus!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

What\u2019s old is news \u2014 or newsbites \u2014 again.<\/span><\/p>\n

1.<\/a> Variety<\/a><\/i> reports that Jimmy Miller<\/a>, a producer best known for Will Ferrell comedies, is going to produce \u201cseveral period dramas\u201d with Robbie and<\/a> Jonathan Stamp<\/a>, who are described by the newspaper as \u201caccomplished historians, authors and documentary filmmakers.\u201d The latter Stamp even has experience as a producer on the HBO series Rome<\/a><\/i> (2005-2007).<\/p>\n

The first collaboration between Miller and the Stamps will be an adaptation of Anabasis<\/a><\/i>, \u201ca memoir written around 400 B.C. by Xenophon, a Greek soldier who was among 10,000 elite mercenaries who attacked the Persian Empire and who led them back through hostile terrain after their leader was betrayed and slain.\u201d Naturally, the studio, Columbia Pictures, was interested in the project partly due to the success of 300<\/a><\/i> (2006), which was loosely inspired by a battle between Greeks and Persians that took place about 80 years earlier.<\/p>\n

2.<\/a> The Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/i> says producer Lucas Foster has optioned Robert Zacco\u2019s novel The Arms of the Sun<\/i>:<\/p>\n

The novel is part of a trilogy about the ancient Egyptian pharaohs and focuses on Nefertiti<\/a>, the consort of Akhenaton<\/a>, the first royal to espouse belief in a single god.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Many scholars have speculated that there may have been some sort of connection between Akhenaten\u2019s monotheism and that practised by the ancient Hebrews, who were either slaves in Egypt under Akhenaten\u2019s reign or had been liberated just a generation or two earlier, depending on whose chronology you follow. I know nothing about Zacco\u2019s novel, but it would be interesting to see if he gets into that at all.<\/p>\n

And say, this reminds me, what ever became of John Heyman\u2019s Nefertiti<\/a><\/i>, which was going to be based on a book which espoused the theory that Akhenaten and the biblical prophet Moses were one and the same person?<\/p>\n

3.<\/a> Variety<\/a><\/i> and the Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/i> both say John Goodman is back on board as Pope Sergius<\/a> in Pope Joan<\/a><\/i>, which is based on a novel about a woman who allegedly led the Catholic church while posing as a man during the 9th century. David Wenham will play Gerold, \u201cthe lover of the titular female pontiff.\u201d<\/p>\n

4.<\/a> Mark Goodacre<\/a> reports that the British mini-series The Passion<\/a><\/i> \u2014 not to be confused with Mel Gibson\u2019s The Passion of the Christ<\/a><\/i> (2004), which covers the same basic topic \u2014 will be coming to DVD in the UK in October. The mini-series was broadcast on the BBC last Easter, and is due to play on HBO in the United States probably sometime next year. I have no idea when or where it might be playing in Canada.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What\u2019s old is news \u2014 or newsbites \u2014 again. 1. Variety reports that Jimmy Miller, a producer best known for Will Ferrell comedies, is going to produce \u201cseveral period dramas\u201d with Robbie and Jonathan Stamp, who are described by the newspaper as \u201caccomplished historians, authors and documentary filmmakers.\u201d The latter Stamp even has experience as […]<\/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-738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nNewsbites: Xenophon! Nefertiti! Joan! Jesus!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What's old is news -- or newsbites -- again.1. 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