Hollywood Set to Release Movies about Jesus during Lenten Season

Hollywood is hoping to draw Christians to the box office during lent with the release of movies centered on the life and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Set for release on February 19, Risen stars Joseph Fiennes as a non-believing centurion in charge of the greatest manhunt of all time after the disappearance of Jesus’ body from the tomb. Rated PG-13 for violence and disturbing images, the film has connections to Mel Gibson’s 2004 film, The Passion of the Christ, which remains the #1 grossing Christian film of all time at $611 million worldwide.

Steven Mirkovic edited both films and Risen’s official press release says it picks up the biblical story of Jesus’s death, resurrection, and ascension 12 years after a blockbuster film about Jesus’s crucifixion.

“Although Risen takes dramatic license, creators insist that the 2016 film will maintain a faithful scriptural treatment of the story,” wrote Nicola Menzie in an article for Christian Post. “That particular aspect, in addition to the skeptical perspective of the film and the promoters’ intended outreach to a coalition of leading Protestant and Catholic influencers will purportedly draw wide audiences to theaters to watch Risen.”

Three weeks after Risen debuts, The Young Messiah hits theaters on March 11. Based on the novel Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt by Anne Rice, The Young Messiah follows a 7-year-old Jesus as he and his family depart Egypt to return home to Nazareth. Since the Bible says very little about Jesus’s childhood, Director Cyrus Nowrasteh consulted faith leaders to try to keep the film from contradicting anything in the Bible.

“He’s 7 years old throughout the story, so we wanted to make sure that, theologically speaking, we weren’t doing something that would be offensive or would be a problem,” Nowrasteh said in an interview with TheBlaze. “We can’t have him as a child doing things that are inconsistent with his character as we know it.”

Like Risen, The Young Messiah is rated PG-13 for violence and thematic elements.