MUMBAI: Infotainment broadcaster National Geographic Channel (NGC) will air the three-hour special ‘Killing Jesus’ globally in 171 countries in 45 languages and in Spanish on Nat Geo Mundo on 29 March.
The special show is based on the best-selling book by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard. It is produced by Scott Free Productions.
This is a story nearly the whole world knows, with more than 2.2 billion people around the globe following the teachings and principles of Jesus of Nazareth. But the intimate historical details of his life and the political collusions that led to his brutal demise bring intriguing context to the familiar story. Now the special on NGC will aim to dive deep inside the historical story of how Jesus’ message and preachings led to his persecution and execution by a group of conspirators who saw him as a threat to their power.
The film is the third collaboration between NGC, Scott Free and Bill O’Reilly, whose first two projects together, Emmy-nominated ‘Killing Kennedy’ and ‘Killing Lincoln’, are respectively the two most-watched programmes in the network’s history.
The special was shot entirely in the Moroccan desert with a crew of 250 and more than 4,500 extras. The 93 speaking roles are brought to life by an incredibly diverse cast, with actors representing Lebanon, Morocco, Czech Republic, Ireland, Great Britain, Israel, Canada, Syria, Australia and the United States. The massive production, unlike anything undertaken by National Geographic Channel before, puts familiar Biblical characters under a new lens to give them layers of meaning rarely explored before.
Leading the cast are Kelsey Grammer as King Herod the Great, the unrelenting and ambitious Roman-appointed King of Judea, who notoriously ordered the murder of all baby boys in Bethlehem, and Stephen Moyer as Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor who ordered Jesus’ crucifixion.
Haaz Sleiman portrays the title character Jesus, with Rufus Sewell as Caiaphas, high priest of Jerusalem and conspirator in Jesus’s death; Emmanuelle Chriqui as Herodia, ex-wife of Herod II and wife of his brother Antipas, who manipulated her husband into having John the Baptist beheaded.