Skip to footer

National Geographic teams with Bill O'Reilly again for 'Killing Jesus' adaptation

National Geographic and director Ridley Scott's company will again produce an adaptation of O'Reilly's work, this one based on the story of Jesus Christ. Scott and National Geographic have previously adapted O'Reilly's works 'Killing Lincoln' and 'Killing Kennedy.'

|
L: National Geographic Channels R: Reuters
Bill O'Reilly (r.)'s book 'Killing Jesus,' which will be the basis for the National Geographic adaptation, is due out this September from publisher Henry Holt. Left: Actor Billy Campbell portrays Abraham Lincoln in the adaptation of O'Reilly's book 'Killing Lincoln.'
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

National Geographic is teaming up with TV personality and author Bill O’Reilly again to adapt his newest book for television.

O’Reilly’s forthcoming book “Killing Jesus,” which is due out this September, will be adapted for television by National Geographic, the channel which also took on adaptations of O’Reilly’s previous books “Killing Lincoln” and “Killing Kennedy.” National Geographic will be working with director and producer Ridley Scott’s company, Scott Free Productions.

The book and TV adaptation will tell the story of Jesus “as a beloved and controversial young revolutionary brutally killed by Roman soldiers" and will also recount "the seismic political and historical events that made his death inevitable and the changes that his life brought upon the world for the centuries to follow,” according to National Geographic.

Scott, whose production company has worked with O’Reilly and National Geographic on the previous two adaptations, told TheWrap.com that he is “privileged” to be teaming up again with National Geographic to adapt O’Reilly’s work. 

“O'Reilly has proven with ‘Killing Lincoln' and ‘Killing Kennedy' that the public is fascinated with the tragic tales of these renowned historical figures, and this is one of the most dramatic stories ever told," Scott said. 

The book version of “Killing Jesus,” for which O’Reilly is teaming up again with his co-author Martin Dugard, is due out Sept. 24. The televised adaptation has a projected air date of 2014.

“Killing Lincoln” aired this February on the National Geographic channel and set a ratings record for the channel, with 3.4 million viewers tuning in – the biggest audience the channel has ever had. "The Killing" and "The Rocketeer" actor Billy Campbell portrayed Abraham Lincoln and actor Tom Hanks narrated. The adaptation of “Killing Kennedy” is currently in preproduction.

“This is the big one," O'Reilly said of “Killing Jesus” in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter. "We really like working with Nat Geo and Scott Free because the B.S. component is very small. These guys are right on my wavelength. We get a good screenplay, we shoot it, and we put it on.”

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to National Geographic teams with Bill O'Reilly again for 'Killing Jesus' adaptation
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2013/0326/National-Geographic-teams-with-Bill-O-Reilly-again-for-Killing-Jesus-adaptation
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe