Mark Burnett, Roma Downey join with Fox for new film

Roma Downey and Mark Burnett, producers of the hit History Channel miniseries The Bible, have signed a contract with 20th Century Fox to take the story of Jesus to theaters in 2014. Son of God,  a feature-length film, will use and expand on the sections of the miniseries about the life of Christ, creating a sweeping narrative from His birth through His resurrection.

“While we appreciated the interest from other distributors, Fox was the right choice for us,” Burnett told Variety. “We have crafted a powerful standalone movie that is a completely emotional, uplifting experience for audiences.”

Downey, who will play Jesus’ mother, Mary, starred in CBS’s hit show Touched by an Angel in the 1990s. Burnett, her husband, is an Emmy Award-winning producer of myriad reality TV shows, including as The Voice, Survivor and The Apprentice.

The Bible averaged 15 million viewers in five two-hour parts on TV, and more than 1 million DVD units of the series have been sold to date. According to distributor Fox, it is the highest-selling TV-to-disc title of the past two years, and the highest-selling TV miniseries of all time.

Fox will also handle the home video release of Son of God, whose release date is yet to be determined.

The Christian products market benefited from the DVD release of The Bible as well as companion products, including Carpentree’s line of licensed framed art and FaithWords books and audiobooks such as A Story of God and All of Us by Downey and Burnett and similar titles for Easter and Christmas.

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