Martin Scorsese Confirms He Has a Present-Day, Pro-Religion Jesus Movie Coming

Renowned producer Martin Scorsese has dropped details on his next movie, and it’s about Jesus.

The 81-year-old celebrity told the Los Angeles Times that, after a meeting with Pope Francis in May of last year, he decided to write a screenplay for an 80-minute film he plans to shoot later this year.

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Scorsese’s goal, he said, is to “take away the negative onus of what has been associated with organized religion” and make the story of Jesus “more accessible” to viewers.

The movie, “A Life of Jesus,” will be largely set in present day, according to the Times, and will be “focusing on Jesus’ core teachings in a way that explores the principles but doesn’t proselytize.”

Scorsese, who is Catholic, said he hopes viewers reimagine their relationships with faith.

“Right now, ‘religion,’ you say that word and everyone is up in arms because it’s failed in so many ways,” he told the newspaper. “But that doesn’t mean necessarily that the initial impulse was wrong. Let’s get back. Let’s just think about it. You may reject it. But it might make a difference in how you live your life — even in rejecting it. Don’t dismiss it offhand. That’s all I’m talking about. And I’m saying that as a person who’s going to be 81 in a couple of days. You know what I’m saying?”

In 2016, ahead of the release of his faith-based film “Silence,” Scorsese said he is “most comfortable” with Catholicism. The movie tells the story of two 17th-century Jesuit priests who travel from Portugal to Japan to find their missing mentor and spread the Catholic religion.

“I believe in the tenets of Catholicism,” he said. “I’m not a doctor of the church. I’m not a theologian who could argue the Trinity. I’m certainly not interested in the politics of the institution. But the idea of the Resurrection, the idea of the Incarnation, the powerful message of compassion and love — that’s the key. The sacraments, if you are allowed to take them, to experience them, help you stay close to God.”

Scorsese once told Relevant he finds the “meaning of existence and the meaning of life” in Christianity.

“That’s the real saving grace of our world, of our species really,” he said. “Truth is within the behavior of the daily life of yourself. I know it has to be there. That’s where we get to compassion and love.”