Another Gospel of John Film

My Dayasagar review was visited by a fellow blogger called Ronald who is charting the progress of a new film on John's Gospel. The Gospel According to John is still in the very early stages of production, but already has an official website with a ringing endorsement from Jack Hayford (president of the International Bible Society).

The project is already interesting at this stage for two reasons. Firstly, it is only 3 years since the release of the last filmed version of John's Gospel, Phillip Saville's word for word adaptation The Gospel of John. That film was made using the Good News Bible by Visual Bible International - their third film following on from Matthew and Acts. There had been some discussion about a Gospel of Mark, including a teaser trailer buried in the "Video Clips" section of this site, but sadly it appears that Visual Bible International gone into receivership.

Secondly, this new project is the brain-child of Bruce Marchiano, the same actor who played Jesus in those first two Visual Bible films. After filming those films he wrote a book about his experiences, "In the Footsteps of Jesus", and started Marchiano Minisitries.

There's a couple of points I'd like to make about this. Firstly one cannot help wondering if Marchiano was disappointed not to be asked to reprise the role for Saville's Gospel of John. I certainly couldn't blame him, as an actor, for wanting to explore all four gospels, particularly having got a taste for it after Matthew. Secondly, Marchiano was 28 at the time of Matthew (1994), which would make him around 40 now, and presumably around 42 by the time filming might be completed. Marchiano is cautious about whether he will get the role or give it to someone else. Answering a few likely questions on the film's website he says:

Will you play Jesus? Let me answer this way... If the cameras rolled today, yes, I would play Jesus. At the same time it would be grievous error to be presumptuous in such a holy pursuit. So even though I would love nothing more I have to be willing to lay it down for His perfect desire if He calls me to. So when it comes to casting Jesus we will make that decision on our knees before Him. That is the only way John will be all God wants it to be.

If Marchiano did take the role, he would be one of the oldest actors to play Jesus behind HB Warner (who was 51) and possibly Robert Wilson (who I can't find a date for - there is a more comprehensive list of the ages of actors playihg Jesus here courtesy of Peter Chattaway).

That said, some scholars at least consider that John 8:57 ("you are not yet 50") suggest Jesus was older than the more commonly ascribed 33. I doubt Marchiano is tapping into this line of thought here, but I suppose if you commit yourself to reproducing John irrespective of what the other gospels say then it's certainly a possibility. (This is reminiscent of how the Jesus (1979) film based solely on Luke did not give him a crown of thorns as that detail does not appear in that gospel).

There's a wealth of information on the film at the official website and the blog. Peter Chattaway also covered this story on Saturday.