Hollywood and the Scripture
They are not always successful nor 100% accurate and they have not always been popular BUT Hollywood does love the Bible's scriptures. Hollywood's favor was greatest in the 1950's and basically died by 1965. Even today, the biblical films like The Ten Commandments (1956) with Charleston Heston and Yul Brynner remains the most successful only to be demolished by the epic, Ben-Hur (1959) that held 11 Oscars only to be surpassed by Titanic in 1997. Lesser films like, Samson and Deliah (1949) and the Passion of Christ (2004) are still excellent by any accounts. In 1988, The Temptation of Christ, with Willem Dafoe, pushed it too far with scenes of Christ have sex. Well, he was human. Now, in the news, there is news that he might have been married. The controversial movie was banned in many countries for a few scenes doomed it to failure.
Are you ready for a renaissance? In various stages, four "scriptures" movies are being planned or in production. Why? Because they have a built in audience , they provide a variety of story lines and characters. The Bible IS the greatest ever published book. Beats all others, in the "Koran". The characters in the Bible are recognizable and of interest to domestic and foreign viewers. Best of all, the stories and characters are all in public domain, no licensing fees.
The coming films are Noah, played by Russell Crowe from Paramount costing $125 million. The movie will be full of CGI effects as it is about Noah and the Ark. Steven Spielberg may be directing, Gods and Kings, a movie about Moses. Will Smith will make his directorial debut with The Redemption of Cain, about the tale of Cain and Abel. Lionsgate studios is producing, Mary,Mother of Christ starring Odeya Rush (who is this?).
The question is will they be successful and is this a response, a sort of anti-Islamic and Muslim for American audiences?
