Newsbites: Scorsese & Del Toro on The Greatest Story Ever Told! Rabbi Wolpe on "the David moment"! Sorbo's Noah! Criterion's Life of Brian!
Quick notes on Bible movies past, present, and yet to come.
Scorsese, Del Toro pay tribute to The Greatest Story Ever Told
Martin Scorsese might have put his Jesus movie on pause a couple years ago, but that doesn’t mean he’s given up on the genre.
In addition to producing Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints—which has more biblical saints this season than it did last season—his Film Foundation recently restored George Stevens’ 1965 Jesus movie The Greatest Story Ever Told, and Scorsese himself recorded an intro for the restoration’s premiere in Los Angeles last Saturday.
The premiere was attended by Guillermo Del Toro, a big fan of Stevens who gave a 20-minute lecture about the film and estimated that he had probably seen it over 20 times, partly because he grew up as a Catholic in Mexico.
You can read IndieWire’s fairly detailed report about the presentation here.
Incidentally, this reminds me: Karina Longworth’s movie-history podcast You Must Remember This had a whole season last year called ‘The Old Man Is Still Alive’, about Hollywood directors from the ’30s and ’40s who kept going (or tried to) in the ’60s and ’70s, and one of the episodes was about George Stevens, and it touched on the making of The Greatest Story Ever Told. You can listen to that episode here:
She also devoted two episodes to John Huston, one of which got into the making of 1966’s The Bible: In the Beginning…:
For what it’s worth, a couple decades ago I included The Greatest Story Ever Told in a list of top ten Jesus movies. The film has its flaws, but Max von Sydow’s performance as Jesus is definitely one of my favorites. It can be pretty austere at times—like the movie as a whole—but there are moments where some real emotion comes through.
Rabbi David Wolpe comments on “the David moment”
I’ve commented here about the recent surge of David-themed movies and TV shows—including, but not limited to, Prime Video’s House of David, Angel Studios’ animated David, and Fox Nation’s upcoming David: King of Israel.
Now Rabbi David Wolpe has a few thoughts on the subject, in an article for the Jewish Telegraph Agency headlined “King David is having a moment in Christian pop culture. We would do well to join in.” His conclusion:
The Christians who made the flurry of David productions believe David is worth paying attention to because he is close to God. Their shows may be worth watching for the opposite reason. David — warrior, poet, lover, sinner, hero, founder of Jerusalem, King of Israel — is the fullest character the Bible offers us. In his sinfulness and sublimity, he is the most human of us all.
Read the whole article here.
Kevin Sorbo plays Noah in The Flood: End of Mankind
Kevin Sorbo’s building an ark!
The Hercules and God’s Not Dead veteran announced last week via his newsletter (which you can subscribe to here) that he’s playing Noah in a movie called The Flood: End of Mankind. Kevin’s wife Sam is also in the film as Noah’s wife, who is named Miriam in this version of the story.
The film—or Sorbo’s role in it, at least—didn’t take long to shoot, apparently. A teaser posted to YouTube in December (which you can see below) said production would begin on January 6, and Sorbo said in his newsletter (dated January 16) that he had already finished working on the film, which was shot in Los Angeles.
Sorbo has a lot of IMDb credits, but I believe this would be only his third biblical film, following 2016’s Joseph and Mary and 2020’s The Penitent Thief. He’s also attached to play King Saul in a movie about David that is currently in development.
The Flood is currently aiming for a theatrical release on October 2.
Monty Python’s Life of Brian comes to Criterion… again
One of the first DVDs I got, way back when, was the Criterion edition of Monty Python’s Life of Brian. Then, when Sony released a Blu-ray version of the film in 2007, I got that. Now Criterion is putting out its own Blu-ray (and 4K!) edition.
The two discs I own share some of the same bonus features, but not all, and it looks like this new Blu-ray might put them all together. Here’s the list of features on the brand-new disc, with notes on which of the two earlier editions had them:
Two audio commentaries featuring Pythons Gilliam, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin — both editions
The Story of Brian (2007), a making-of documentary — Sony edition only
The Pythons (1979), a documentary about Monty Python filmed on location for Life of Brian — Criterion edition only
Behind-the-scenes Super 8 film shot by Palin
Five deleted scenes with commentary by the Pythons — both editions
Original British radio ads starring Mrs. Cleese, Mrs. Gilliam, Mrs. Idle, and Palin’s dentist — both editions
Original illustrated recording by the Pythons of an early version of their screenplay — Sony edition only
Animated stills gallery — Sony edition only
Trailer — Criterion edition only
Plus, of course, the new Criterion edition will have better picture and sound, etc.
The new disc will be available April 14. You can order it here.
Oh, and while The Greatest Story Ever Told was one of my top ten Jesus movies a while back, Monty Python’s Life of Brian was one of my top ten movies, period.
Upcoming Bible movies and TV shows:
early 2026 — David: King of Israel (streaming: Fox Nation)
March 22-April 5, 2026 — The Faithful (television: Fox)
April-May 2026 — Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints: Season 2 part 2 (streaming: Fox Nation)
October 2, 2026 — The Flood: End of Mankind (theatrical)
second half of 2026 — The Chosen: Season 6: Episodes 1-6 (streaming: Prime Video)
sometime in 2026 — Daniel (theatrical: Unveil Studios)
sometime in 2026 — Zero A.D. (theatrical: Angel Studios)
March 12, 2027 — The Chosen: Season 6: Finale (theatrical: Amazon MGM)
March 26, 2027 — The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One (theatrical: Lionsgate)
May 6, 2027 — The Resurrection of the Christ: Part Two (theatrical: Lionsgate)
sometime in 2027 — Joseph of Egypt (streaming: Prime Video)
March 31, 2028 — The Chosen: Season 7: Premiere (theatrical: Amazon MGM)
no release date specified — Jacob (theatrical: Angel Studios)
no release date specified — The Promised Land: Season 2 (streaming)
who knows when Malick will finish it — The Way of the Wind (theatrical)