A 10-hour mini-series drama based on the stories in the Bible received a rousing reception Monday during a sneak peak of the ambitious project.

Best known for producing the TV shows Survivor, The Voice and The Apprentice, Mark Burnett and his actress wife, Roma Downey, of Touched by an Angel fame, gave conventioneers a first-look of The Bible, an adaptation of the scriptures planned to air on the History Channel, starting Easter 2013.

CBA Executive Director Curtis Riskey introduced the project, which Burnett and Downey, who are both Christians, have been working to produce for the past two years.

“The basis of what we do in the Christian product industry is God's Word,” he said. “That is why this project is so exciting because it is bringing the Bible in written form, more to life.”

Burnett said the couple returned last week from five months of shooting in Morocco to complete filming of the docudrama, which chronicles well-known characters and events in the Bible such as Noah's Ark, Abraham offering to sacrifice Isaac, the Exodus and the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.

“This is a passion project for Mark and I,” Downey told a capacity crowd, noting that the live-action production was bathed in prayer. “We hope that this will to go to all corners of the world to bring the Word of God alive to people.”

Burnett, who showed several clips, including Jesus' birth and John the Baptist baptizing Christ, admitted that the mini-series was “very dark” in its portrayals of characters and events, but also “intensely light” in its redemptive parts.

Burnett and Downey received a standing ovation from the audience after the clips were shown. “From what I've seen, it's going to be amazing,” Riskey told Christian Retailing after the dessert reception, sponsored by the History Channel and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

FaithWords plans a novelization of The Bible, and Twentieth Century Fox will release and distribute the DVDs.

“I believe this project is going to be a cultural event and seismic in the entertainment world,” Simon Swart, executive vice president and general manager North America of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, told the audience.

• Prev
• Next