When Mark Burnett and his wife Roma Downey first conceived their televised adaptation of the Bible for History Channel, I doubt they knew the ratings would take on such Biblical proportions for the cable network. For Burnett’s first foray into scripting his own series, it was quite an undertaking, and it appears to have paid off for him in full.
So much so that the enormously popular DVD and Blu-ray release for The Bible - which sold over half a million copies in its first week alone – and a baffling novel adaptation of the miniseries aren’t enough for Burnett. Deadline reports an abundance of interest in getting The Bible seen on a big screen has led Burnett to reveal the miniseries will be re-cut and edited down to a three-hour version which will get some kind of future theatrical release. He shared the info while promoting The Voice at an NBC Summer Press Day closing panel, and presumably it was not declared from on top of a mountain.
No studios aren’t involved yet, and it could possibly stay that way. “We’re in the position where it’s just a matter of choosing” where to show the film, Burnett said, hinting at releasing the film outside of the studio system, a la The Passion of the Christ. “We could put it into arenas. There are a lot of possible choices we could go with…We kind of operate outside the business, we do our own thing. It’s a good position to be in.”
With over 100 million viewers in the United States alone, I’d say it’s a pretty goddamn spectacular position to be in...only without the blaspheming.
