Filmmaker Martin Scorsese reportedly announced Saturday that he intends to make a new film about Jesus, the news coming shortly after his meeting with Pope Francis.
“I have responded to the Pope’s appeal to artists in the only way I know how: by imagining and writing a screenplay for a film about Jesus,” Scorsese said during a conference in Rome at the Vatican, Variety reported, citing “multiple reports.” Scorsese and his wife, Helen Morris, attended a brief private audience with the Pope shortly before the conference, entitled “The Global Aesthetics of the Catholic Imagination.”
Conference organizer Antonio Spadaro shared photographs of Scorsese and Pope Francis together at the event, along with a quote from the latter.
Thank you to Martin #Scorsese for accepting the invitation to join us of La Civiltà Cattolica and Georgetown University – along with his wife and daughter – in the meeting of 40 poets and writers from different Countries with #PopeFrancesco, who said among other things, “This is… pic.twitter.com/yG6bEyo2Wq
— Antonio Spadaro (@antoniospadaro) May 27, 2023
Entertainment centered on Christ and Christian faith has experienced an enormous revival in the last five years, much of it championed by the success of “The Chosen.” The series follows the life of Jesus Christ and the many incredible ways he taught us during his time on Earth.
The show has reached more than 100 million people around the world, and has reportedly been translated into more than 600 languages. Lionsgate purchased the worldwide distribution rights to the series in May, according to Variety.
Christian film “Jesus Revolution” also became Lionsgate’s highest-grossing film since 2019. Its director, Jon Erwin, also became the first-ever director to receive four A+ CinemaScores, beating out everyone from Steven Spielberg to Scorsese himself. (RELATED: Everyone Needs To Watch And Then Do A ‘Jesus Revolution’)
There is no information yet about what Scorsese is planning for his own reported tribute to Christ, as he still has to imagine his storyline first. Thankfully, there is a really Good Book all about Jesus and his life. I’m sure Scorsese has heard of it.