You might think that Hollywood has given up on sweeping Biblical epics after the so-so results of a movies like “The Nativity,” especially compared to the relatively high box office results of low-budget Christian films like “Fireproof,” but avid readers of screenwriter and feisty patron saint of all things Hollywood Barbara Nicolosi’s blog, confirmed good news last Friday. Nicolosi has been teasing readers for a few months now with tidbits about a project she has been involved in revolving around the life of Mary, mother of Jesus Christ. Well, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter made it official when it announced the movie, “Mary, Mother of Christ”–slated to open next Easter season–is going into production soon.
The movie is going to have some major movie star muscle behind it with Camilla Belle (“Push”) playing Mary, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers playing both Gabriel and Lucifer. Peter O’Toole has a role as Simeon and Al Pacino and Jessica Lange are also in discussions to possibly star in the movie. One of the producers, Mary Aloe, told the trades that this movie will cover “Mary’s youth, young love, her life as a new mother and the triumph through the absolute terror of Herod the Great’s reign. It is truly a story of real female empowerment.”

While premature comparisons to “The Passion of the Christ” will be many–especially with “Passion” co-writer Benedict Fitzgerald also attached with a writing credit on “Mary”–I can’t help but take a more personal view of the project. I am one of the hundreds of writing students who have benefited from Barb’s efforts. When she first helmed the Act One writing program in Hollywood ten years ago, many of her own personal writing ambitions were put, at least some degree, on indefinite hold while she focused on the greater good of helping train a new generation of Christian artists ( At least this is my interpretation of the events.)
So Friday’s news is indeed exciting because I think the project holds great promise in the Christian marketplace. It is also an encouraging reminder that God is faithful to turn us toward those desires as well as the spiritual challenge of the price it takes to follow those desires.