Paul Verhoeven.net - all about a unique director

Never thought you'd see those two words in the same phrase, uh? Ever since the September 24th scoop on the Crusade page, I've received quite a large number of e-mails on this project. Paul Verhoeven, the controversial director of Basic Instinct and Showgirls has been working on a movie on Jesus Christ. Here's a round-up of the history and future of this project:

"Paul Verhoeven is (or at least was) indeed working on a Jesus Christ film (with worktitle: `Christ, the Man`), and the glass design is probably not for Crusade but for this film. The information can be found in the book `Paul Verhoeven - The authorized biography` (Dutch edition, 1996) on pages 217-219. There it says that Verhoeven was following (which he probably still is) The Jesus Seminar, a since-1985 twice-a-year gathering of around 80 theologians who are trying to reconstruct the life of Jesus on a pure scientific basis. Hints of the religious side of Verhoeven (he is obsessed with Jesus and death, as he says) can also be found in The Fourth Man (1983) and Flesh+Blood (1985)." [Scoop provided by 'Emi'.]

More on Verhoeven and The Jesus Seminar...

Excerpts from http://www.renewal2.com/c19.htm:

"But I think it's worth noting that Verhoeven, himself a PhD scholar with a lifelong fascination with Jesus (as Jesus, not the Christ, I think it's fair to say, from hearing him and reading his stuff for some time), has been working for years of a movie that would present what it is that grabs the filmmaker so strongly about the man from Nazareth.

Verhoeven uses The Jesus Seminar as his consultants on his project, and his interactive sessions with the JSem scholars are a wonder to behold. He is no slouch, nor are the other scholars all isolated from the world of film either. We all look forward to Verhoeven's presence in the Seminar."- Bob Cramer

And yet more on the Jesus Seminar:

"His interest is so great that he has taken part in scholarly theological conferences on the subject of Jesus' life — for instance, he was a member of the controversial 'Jesus Seminar', a group of liberal theologians and scholars who did a study of Jesus' life and wrote a controversial book on their findings called The Five Gospels (you can find it at Amazon.com.) Anyways, I hope this sheds some light on the mystery." [Scoop provided by 'superfly' ]

"And, if you can believe this, he was a member of the Jesus Seminar, a controversial group of religious scholars pouring over the gospels seeking the 'true, historic Jesus', by evaluating his words and deeds for historical veracity. This was done by voting with red, pink, grey, and black beads, for a sliding scale of opinion. Verhoeven, seeking a movie about the human Jesus, joined the seminar, which was pleased to have a Hollywood man raising their press. Verhoeven left the group when its leader, Dr. Funk, criticized the script for depending too much on the Gospel of John, the most spiritual and least human of the gospels, and the one which the seminar had trashed as being completely fictitious, and the main basis for the treatment. As ludicrous as this seems, it is true." [Scoop provided by Gregory N. Baker ]

"I've read The Five Gospels, and the thought processes behind the Jesus Seminar's work are almost as fascinating as their take on the text themselves. For anyone who's ever been involved with the Judeo-Christian mythos, it's absolutely an incredible read to have the Four main Gospels and then The Gospel of Thomas there for back-to-back comparisons as both historical and literary works. Highly recommended." [$.02 from Widgett]

What are the plans for Verhoeven regarding the making of this project?

"Verhoeven has assembled a workshop titled The Jesus Cinema Seminar, gathering information about the motion picture he intends to make about Jesus Christ, based on the original Greek version of the New Testament (projected release date: Christmas 2000). Every six months when the group gets together, they talk for two hours, about, lets say, the costumes of that time, how somebody was cured, what was the role of Lazarus or Judas, etc. They are all ideas, chronologies, thoughts, all placed in a psychological-dramatised structure. If true (about the glass design), its probably from the Jesus Christ project than the Crusade, since the research for the project is already going on for 13 years so the level of detail of the period settings must be very high by now. Verhoeven knows the controversy that surrounds the project, and probably knows that it could become his last film in the States." [Scoop provided by 'Emi' ]

"There was an article that came out in the beginning of the year (in EW maybe) that focused on if Titanic would open the money floodgates in Hollywood. Verhoeven commented that he was planning to film a movie about Jesus Christ and that he wanted to build the city of Jerusalem, full scale." [Scoop provided by 'cavaken']

Full scale? Whoa... How much would that cost?

"Some time ago I read an article about over budget movie (I don't remember where, maybe in Entertainement Weekly or People but you can find it on the internet). There was a bit of interview with Paul Verhoven talking about the success of Titanic. He was saying that the success of Titanic would allow other director to do more ambitious movie. He then tell that one of is dream was to do a biopic of Jesus and the way he would do it he need at least 130 million dollars."[Scoop provided by 'sebgagne']

The Jesus/Showgirls Connection:

"Also, a funny in-joke for the Jesus project can be found in Showgirls (which isn`t THAT bad, just compare it with Batman and Robin, it will seem like a masterpiece - hahaha), where between the 45-50th minute into the film, a large neon sign says 'JESUS IS COMING SOON' (the setting is night and Naomi is walking towards the house of her black friend), which can be referred to the movie he is preparing, sort of a free teaser…" [This Scary coincidence reported by 'Emi' ]

The most recent news concerning this project:

"Then again, in a very intellectual-spirited interview in the June 20th, 1998 edition of the weekly Dutch magazine `Vrij Nederland` (translation: `The Free Netherlands`), we have an update on the project, where Verhoeven says that the 2000 release date was more a temptation (exactly 2000 after Jesus birth), and it would cause too much controversy. Also: '…causing controversy on a small scale has something nice to it, but causing controvery surrounding `an ultimate symbol of society` is a bit useless. It means too much for too many people…'. " [Scoop provided by 'Emi' ]

Is it gonna happen? Will Verhoeven get the financing? Is this a sign of the apocalypse? Who knows?

Jean-François Allaire (aka 'Deadpool')
Contributing Content Writer
Coming Attractions

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