Martin Scorsese announced in a recent interview that his upcoming feature about Jesus will begin filming this year.
The filmmaker revealed to The Los Angeles Times that the project will be based on Shūsaku Endō’s A Life of Jesus, and that the screenplay is officially completed with the help of fellow filmmaker Kent Jones. “I’m trying to find a new way to make it more accessible and take away the negative onus of what has been associated with organized religion,” Scorsese explained, adding that his film will most likely be set in the present day to create a more timeless feel. He further noted that he plans for the film to run at approximately 80 minutes, with its central focus on “Jesus’ core teachings in a way that explores the principles but doesn’t proselytize.”
“Right now, ‘religion,’ you say that word and everyone is up in arms because it’s failed in so many ways,” Scorsese said. “But that doesn’t mean necessarily that the initial impulse was wrong. Let’s get back. Let’s just think about it. You may reject it. But it might make a difference in how you live your life — even in rejecting it. Don’t dismiss it offhand. That’s all I’m talking about. And I’m saying that as a person who’s going to be 81 in a couple of days. You know what I’m saying?”
Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon was recently nominated for Best Motion Picture, Drama at the 2024 Golden Globes, with the filmmaker himself receiving a nod for Best Director, Motion Picture and star Lily Gladstone winning Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama.
