Mark Burnett revealed this weekend that he has made progress on the upcoming movie version of the famed television miniseries The Bible.
Charisma News reported in April that Burnett and his wife, Roma Downey, were preparing a three-hour movie version of the hit series, which aired on the History Channel. Burnett spoke with the national executive director of the Producers Guild of America, Vance Van Petten, in a panel on Sunday, saying he had just finished editing a 2-hour-15-minute version of the series that will focus on the life of Jesus.
“It’s the most important story in the history of the world,” Burnett told a room full of producers, according to The Wrap. “It’s completely true … I know it’s true … because I feel it in me.”
The producer—who also created Survivor, Celebrity Apprentice and The Voice—said he believes in the next decade and a half, more people will have seen The Bible than those who have not.
“I believe that in the next 15 years, more people on the planet will have seen our Bible series that haven’t seen it,” Deadline reported him saying.
The Bible debuted on March 3 to 13.1 million viewers, becoming the highest-rated cable show of the year. On Easter Sunday, 11.7 million viewers tuned in to its last episode. It is also the fastest-selling DVD for a miniseries ever.
“It’s a God voice,” Burnett told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s clearly a calling; clearly, we felt it was something we had to do, and too many things happened to explain it any other way. It’s a juggernaut, and it’s not going to slow down.”
