Filmmakers with religious faith needn’t usually pray for miracles when it comes to making their religious epics, as the films usually strike big and have an unending shelf life, from the mega-millions Mel Gibson brought in with his blood-soaked The Passion of the Christ to the record ratings garnered by The History’s Channel’s predictably shallow miniseries The Bible. And even though it wasn’t a box office sensation, Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ features arguably the most critically acclaimed version of Jesus.
And back to Last Temptation author Nikos Kazantzakis’ well Hollywood goes, as the film rights to his 1954 novel Jesus Recrucified have been acquired by Grindstone Pictures, reports Deadline. The film, written by Gil J. Botello and Vincent Baksanski, will actually carry the less provocative title Christ is Risen.
Instead of following the time-honored “adapt the thing we paid to adapt” pattern, the filmmakers will be setting the story in present-day Mexico, following a small town’s residents as they prepare for an intensive and draining passion play about Jesus only performed every seven years. One of the cast members is a town rebel, Manolios, who earns the role of Jesus not through any amount of church-going, but because he is mentally tough enough to handle the stress. To everyone’s surprise, Manolios finds his faith through his acting, but when pressured by horrific events, his actions put him in the crosshairs of local authorities who see him as more of a threat than a blessing.
It isn’t the worst idea for a film, and it’s always refreshing when faith-based stories are told outside of biblical settings or pandering propaganda. But messing with a great author’s work is always hell…well it’s trouble anyway.
