Clavius, a new movie about Romans searching for the body of the purportedly risen Christ, has cast Joseph Fiennes and Tom Felton.
One of the most purely cinematic (and ironically lurid) Hollywood big budget genres has risen from the blockbuster grave. Yes, we are in the midst of the Resurrection of the Biblical Epic, and if you couldn’t tell before with Darren Aronofsky and Russell Crowe on Noah while Ridley Scott and Christian Bale were taking Moses for a spin in Exodus: Gods and Kings, then consider that the New Testament is finally getting its day too.
To date, the mainstream Hollywood studio system has been shying away from the second half of the Bible, though Paramount has announced plans to remake Ben-Hur. Yet, in a much more bit of concrete newsmaking, Clavius is moving seriously forward with Patrick Aiello producing alongside Mickey Liddell.
The production announced Friday afternoon that Joseph Fiennes and Tom Felton have been cast to lead the picture.
Fiennes will take center stage by playing an agnostic Roman Centurion charged by Pontius Pilate to discover the location of Jesus of Nazareth’s body following rumors of a resurrected Messiah in Jerusalem. A non-believer by default, Fiennes’ character will have his skepticism tested as he looks further into the case of Jesus Christ.
The picture is set to shoot in August in Malta and Spain. The movie is being directed by Kevin Reynolds, whose credits include Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Waterworld, The Count of Monte Cristo, and Hatfields & McCoys.
The return of this genre came up in our discussion with Sir Ben Kingsley at San Diego Comic-Con last week.
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