Martin Scorsese will make his film about Jesus this year… and it will be short!

The filmmaker says more about his next biblical project, which will have the mission of restoring the image of religion in 80 minutes.

You found Killers of the Flower Moon a little too long? For his next project, Martin Scorsese will do less. Three times shorter, even! The film about Jesusannounced last year, should last around 1h20, a pittance compared to the 3h40 of its Osage epic.

Martin Scorsese reveals in an interview with the Los Angeles Times that he plans to shoot his 28th feature film in 2024. He finished the script in collaboration with critic Kent Jones, but says he is still in the process of “swim in inspiration“. The film will be based on the novel “A Life of Jesus” written by Shūsaku Endō in 1973. It is the same author who signed the novel Silence (1966), which Scorsese brought to the screen in 2016.

Martin Scorsese gives some details about the script and emphasizes that the action will largely take place in the present day and will focus on “on the fundamental teachings of Jesus in a way that explores the principles without proselytizing“. The Los Angeles Times writes that the director does not want to lock himself into a period, because he wants to give character.”timeless” to his film. We will therefore obviously not be in a sort of historical biopic recounting the life of Jesus in Galilee.

Moreover, Martin Scorsese has an ecumenical humanist ambition: “I’m trying to find a new way to make it more accessible and remove the negative burden associated with organized religion. Right now, “religion,” you say that word, and everyone gets outraged because it has failed in so many ways. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the initial impulse was bad. Let’s think about it again. You may not adhere to it, but even then religion could make a difference in how you live your life. Do not dismiss this concept outright. That’s all I want to say with this film. And I say this as someone who will be 81 in a few days.”