The astonishing success of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ in 2004 came as a surprise to the Hollywood establishment, particularly considering the film’s failure to gain production funding through a major studio. Since then the Biblical epic, long thought dead in terms of widespread marketability, has become a viable product.
This timely volume addresses the new wave of the genre. Twenty-first-century Biblical epics primarily take the form of film or television features, created both within and outside of Hollywood. They range from auteurist ‘passion projects’ such as Gibson’s film, Darren Aronofsky’s Noah (2014) and Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) to more purely commercial productions such as Ben-Hur (2016). Adapting stories from both the Old and New Testaments, they follow previous Biblical epic traditions while appearing distinct both stylistically and thematically from the genre in its prime.
Featuring contributions from scholars such as Mikel J. Koven, Andrew B. R. Elliott and Martin Stollery, as well as a preface from Adele Reinhartz, The Bible onscreen in the new millennium provides a starting point for academic consideration of the modern Biblical epic, offering insights into production methods, adaptation, reception and more.