Jesus may be a very busy man, trying to keep the world in order (his latest progress report, however, has mysteriously been shredded), but he still has time to hunt around for romance. In one of the year’s strangest pitches, Jesus will star in a romantic comedy called Prodigal Son for Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment. Yes, you read that correctly.
Variety reports that Gigi Levangie Grazer was offered a six-figure deal for the concept, which she realizes will not be embraced by everyone. "It's a love it or hate it idea, but we're not aiming to offend," she says. "He won't be having sex. It'll be a disarming romantic comedy, a story of unrequited love, sort of like 'Splash.'"
Grazer will write the script with Mimi James. The story is about a workaholic single mom in L.A. who gets fixed up by her mother, and her date winds up being Jesus Christ. The good-looking, sweet-natured carpenter has returned for Armageddon and earns some extra cash working at Ikea.
While people will probably be offended by the depiction of their Lord in a rom-com (and trolling the aisles of Ikea, no less), this is really nothing out of left-field: South Park has been parodying him for years, and he has appeared regularly on Rescue Me, mingling with Denis Leary. A switch to the big screen was only a matter of time. Welcome aboard the love train, Jesus.
