Verhoeven's 'Jezus van Nazareth' Due for Publication in September

Back in December 2006 I reported that director Paul Verhoeven had decided to write a book about Jesus as a step towards fulfilling his dream of one day making a film about him. Empire had interviewed Verhoeven in the run up to the release of Black Book and he'd mentioned the project saying he feared getting attacked by fundamentalists.

15 months later and it seems the book is almost ready for publication, although initially it's only going to be available in the director's native Dutch. Hollywood Reporter are saying that Verhoeven's 'Jezus van Nazareth: Een realistisch portret' (Jesus of Nazareth: A Realistic Portrait) will be published by Meulenhoff in September, and a quick search on their website uncovered the above cover art and a brief description (still unintelligible even after using Google Translation). Fortunately, Fox News have picked out the main headlines.

In his upcoming biography of Jesus, "Basic Instinct" director Paul Verhoeven will make the shocking claim that Christ probably was the son of Mary and a Roman soldier who raped her during the Jewish uprising in Galilee.
[snip]
The book... also states that Christ was not betrayed by Judas Iscariot.

Fox has wheeled in Catholic League President Bill Donohue to fulfill the role of outraged Christian, but, really, Verhoeven is saying nothing that hasn't been said a hundred times before. In fact similar claims are even made in another Jesus film - Jesus of Montreal - so it's hard to believe that Donohue is really that shocked. That said, his suggestion that the Basic Instinct director "should go back to Sharon Stone's legs" seems very odd indeed. Is Donohue really suggesting Verhoeven make more soft porn?

News on Two More Potential Bible Films...

Stories about Paul Verhoeven (director of Robocop and Total Recall) and his desire to make a film about Jesus go so far back that I am not particularly optimistic this project will ever see the light of day. I first heard about it in the first edition of W. Barnes Tatums' "Jesus at the Movies" which was published almost ten years ago in 1997. However, Tyler Williams highlights an interview with Verhoeven at Empire. It seems he fears getting attacked by fundamentalists so much that he's decided to write a book on it first. There are a few points about this. Firstly, it seems unlikely anyone would actually shoot him (as his scriptwriter has actually told him). Secondly, if people are going to be offended by a film they probably will be by a book. Presumably he has never heard of the fatwa slapped on Salman Rushdie.

Secondly, Peter Chattaway reports that the Vancouver Sun has indicated that Nativity producer Marty Bowen is now working on a film about John the Baptist. I can't imagine that would be very popular, even if Peter and I would both be keen to see it. Perhaps they should write it as a book first...