Roma Downey Says Upcoming 'Son of God' Will Be 'Epic, Sweeping' Reminder of God's Love
The upcoming, highly-anticipated film "Son of God" is going to be an "epic, sweeping" reminder of God's love, actress Roma Downey, who co-produced the film with her husband Mark Burnett, said in a recent interview.
The film "Son of God," set to be released by 20th Century Fox in theaters on Feb. 28, will take a PG-13 look at the life of Jesus, beginning with his birth and early teachings and following him through his crucifixion and resurrection. According to the film's website, "Son of God" is the first motion picture about Jesus since "The Passion of the Christ," released 10 years ago.
Downey told The Blaze in a recent interview that she and her husband are very excited to release their film, adding that she thinks its message of hope and love will "touch the lives of millions."
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"We hope audiences leave theaters feeling they know Jesus more and also that they are reminded of how deeply he loved us," she said. "This is a big, epic sweeping film – an exciting movie and sometimes a tense movie with intense drama and real danger."
"At the end you feel incredibly humbled and loved – reminded that we are all children of God."
Downey added that although the film has yet to be released to the public, test screenings for the motion picture have proven successful and promising. "We have felt support across all denominations … businesses are buying out whole theaters and donating the seats to churches, encouraging folks to come opening weekend and to bring a friend and to bring the whole family," she said. "We believe this message of hope and love will touch the lives of millions."
Downey and Burnett surprised Hollywood last year with their highly successful mini-series "The Bible," which attracted 13.1 million viewers for its season premiere and 100 million cumulative views. Downey and Burnett said at the Resurgence 2013 conference in November that the success they had with their miniseries proves Americans want to see more Christian-themed entertainment, including a motion picture.
"Many people thought that nobody in America, during prime-time TV wants to hear about or watch the Bible. They were so wrong. One hundred million people tuned in," Burnett told The Christian Post at the conference, which was hosted by Mark Driscoll at the Mars Hill Downtown Church in Seattle. "We knew when we were shooting that the Jesus portion of our 'Bible' series was special and we shot much more footage and we've re-edited many more scenes into a stand-alone feature film called 'Son of God.'"
Burnett added that he and his wife's experience in the television business, through her acting on "Touched by an Angel" and his producing of "Shark Tank" and other shows, has given them enough credibility in Hollywood to successfully produce religious-themed content. "It all comes back to people in the industry realizing that we know what we're doing and allowing us to make this show and now our movie about our faith."
