Emmy-winning producer Mark Burnett and his wife, Touched by an Angel‘s Roma Downey, are in final editing for their new highly anticipated epic miniseries, The Bible. The team has been working with the History Channel to produce the 10-hour miniseries, retelling Scripture from the story of Noah to the resurrection of Christ.
The couple came up with the idea for the series based on their lifelong love of Scripture and inspiration from the biblical epics such as The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston. But Downey told The Christian Post that the project itself began with prayer.
“Casting began with prayer,” said Downey. “We had been scouting locations in Morocco and were ‘looking for Jesus.’ Six weeks before filming began, we still didn’t have Jesus.” But Downey and Burnett finally cast Portuguese actor Diogo Morgado, calling him “a beautiful person.” Other actors will include Sean Bean and Nonso Anozie while Downey herself will portray Mary, the mother of Jesus. In addition, Hans Zimmer will provide the score for the film; Zimmer is famous for composing scores for many blockbuster films, including the recent The Dark Knight Rises.
Burnett, best known for producing reality shows like Survivor, The Voice, and The Apprentice, told the audience at Variety’s Family Entertainment and Faith-Based Summit in July that the series was really about “faith and love,” and his job was to tell the biblical stories in an “emotionally connected way.” The Christian Post, after a sneak peek of the film, called it at times violent but visually enchanting.
Nancy Dubuc, president of the History Channel, told MovieGuide.com that a group of theologians and scholars were regularly consulted on the accuracy of the project. “This is probably the most important book in mankind, regardless of your beliefs or religious affiliation,” Dubuc says. “We spend a lot of time talking about this book, and probably not enough time knowing what’s in it.”
The Bible will air on the History Channel beginning March 3, with the last episode in the series airing on Easter Sunday.
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