Upcoming Films on Jesus - "The Messiah" and "The Resurrection"

In the wake of "The Passion of the Christ," there have been talk of subsequent movies in the same vein, some of which want to portray the "sequel" of the events of the Passion, usually focusing on the Resurrection and start of the early church.  One in production is to be called "The Resurrection," produced by Tim LaHaye's Ministry.  Currently, they are raising money to finish filming the film:

The Resurrection Project is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization operating on a DBA under the Tim LaHaye Ministries organization. We are reaching out to the Body of Christ to help us fund a $25,000,000 major motion picture based on The Resurrection of Jesus Christ that has been 5 years in the making. We have a script in-hand that we believe will unite the Global Church as well as the Jewish community by creating a movie of the highest quality for the whole world funded by the Body of Christ. We are looking for 1,000,000 Christians to sew in $25 to help make this film a reality. Please see our DONATE page to make a contribution.

Follow our journey through fundraising, pre-production, filming, post-production and theatrical release as we make history by creating the first film fully funded and afforded by the Body of Christ which can be used to bring revival to the four corners of the world.

The second film is to be called "The Messiah," and will deal with the events of the death & resurrection of Christ and the subsequent start of the early church.  It's is being made by a production company called "In Jesus Name Productions" and is founded by a member of my church (McLean Bible Church), leaving his position as a VP of Oracle to pursue this filmmaking company and its projects.

While remaining true to scriptures, The Messiah unfolds the events surrounding Jesus’ death, resurrection and Pentecost in a relevant and compelling way, and for the first time, allows audiences to visually experience the full message of the Gospel - God lives within us.  Set against the staggering backdrop of first-century Jerusalem, the film will bring this breathtaking city to life in a way we’ve never seen.

The Messiah is a major motion picture and is tentatively planned for a 2012 worldwide release.

So these are a couple of movies to be looking for in the near future. It looks like there are those trying to produce some quality Christian films, but both of these are needing financial support in order to be completed.  Whether or not you want to donate is your choice, but at the least, it's refreshing to see that there are still those who want to keep filmmaking a God-honoring art.

Happy Easter!

Updates on Upcoming Faith-Based Movies

There is news on more faith-based movies--particularly "Passion"-esque sequels--coming down the pike in the film industry. Though I've touched on several upcoming movies (here, here, and here), Josh Hurst from Christianity Today movies sums up the latest news quite nicely:

As successful as The Passion of The Christ was, it's not too surprising that a sequel would be in the pipeline, but who would have expected multiple sequels? With the FoxFaith film The Inquiry, Canadian film The Sword of Peter, and the Tim LaHaye-Screen Gems collaboration The Resurrection all picking up with biblical events that happened after Christ's Passion Week, still another film—Risen—was recently added to the number of unofficial Passion follow-ups.

Variety reports that Risen—subtitled The Story of the First Easter—is in development by Hyde Park Entertainment—the same folks who developed Bringing Down the House, Raising Helen, and Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story.

Reportedly, the film will focus on the Apostle Peter in retelling the story of what happened to the disciples between Christ's resurrection and the day of Pentecost.

Hyde Park's Ashok Amritaj says that the tumultuous state of the world makes this a prime time for faith-based films, also noting the "commercial marketplace and need for movies that have hope and values."

No release date or production schedule has been set, though a script is currently in the works.