While not a whole lot is known about Martin Scorsese‘s planned new movie about Jesus, the director did open up a bit about when he plans on beginning filming some of the project.
Speaking to America Magazine recently, Scorsese was asked about his new film, and why he’s looking to make another film about Jesus after his 1988 film The Last Temptation of Christ. Scorsese said a conversation he had with Pope Francis had him thinking about how to present Jesus in a modern setting, and that he hopes to begin filming some of the film soon.
“I’m thinking in response to what Pope Francis wrote about and the idea of making Jesus accessible, not putting Jesus on a wall or in a painting or in a stained-glass window,” said Scorsese. “Jesus immediate, with us now, right in the room as we speak. And dealing with the accessibility of who Jesus is and continues to be in our lives. Hence, I’m thinking of a film that might be partially modern day, partially ancient, I’m not quite sure. We’ve come up with a script, myself and [longtime collaborator] Kent Jones. I hope to be shooting some of it in April to get it going.”
Movie won’t be “usual, straight narrative” of Jesus’ life
Scorsese went on to say that his film wouldn’t be a “usual, straight narrative” version of Jesus’ life, saying some of it would be based on the book A Life of Jesus by Shūsaku Endō, which deals with the figure of Jesus and how he pertains to people’s lives nowadays.
“But it wouldn’t be a usual, straight narrative of the life of Jesus in any way,” Scorsese said. “It would be something that makes us think of Jesus in the present. And in a different way, too. Some of it would be based on what Shūsaku Endō wrote in his book A Life of Jesus. I thought it was really interesting how he comes about it from an Asian point of view to make us see Jesus in another way, and how it pertains to our lives now. And how it’ll always be something at the crux of our lives.”
Scorsese, who already made The Last Temptation of Christ in 1988, announced he was making a new movie about Jesus Christ in May 2023 after he and his wife Helen Morris privately met with Pope Francis at the Vatican.
In October 2023, Scorsese also confirmed to Sight and Sound that the movie wouldn’t have a straightforward narrative.