History of the Project
Since 1950,
Dr. Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade
for Christ, dreamed of developing an
appealing biblically accurate film about
the life of Christ. He saw how the life-changing
message of Jesus Christ could reach the
world's millions—especially the
illiterate—with greater impact through
the medium of film. A film utilizing
both sight and sound to deliver the message
of Christ could provide a powerful evangelistic
tool that would bring the gospel message
alive.
Done accurately,
adhering faithfully to Scripture, Dr.
Bright foresaw a film that could be  translated
and re-recorded into the languages of
the world.
A team of
500 scholars and leaders from a variety
of secular and Christian organizations
began a five-year program in the mid-1970s
to determine how to best portray Jesus
on the motion picture screen. The team
agreed that the film must meet five important
criteria:
- The film must be as
archaeologically, historically and
theologically accurate as humanly
possible.
- The presentation must
be unbiased, acceptable to all as
a true depiction of Christ's life.
- The film story must
appeal to all ages.
- The script must be
easily translatable into virtually
any language on earth.
- The film must be of
theater-viewing quality, and effective
with both urban and rural audiences
worldwide.
In 1978, "JESUS" was
produced at a cost of $6 million, primarily
funded by a businessman and long-time
friend of Campus Crusade for Christ International.
John Heyman,
a film producer and financier with more
than 30 films to his credit, provided
the driving force behind the production
of "JESUS."
If you opened
the Bible on your shelf to the Book of
Luke right now, you would encounter the
script of the film. The action and most
of the words spoken by actors and narrator
alike were recorded in Scripture. In
the film, virtually every word spoken
by Jesus is taken directly from the Gospel
according to Luke.
After a six-month
search and 263 screen tests, the lead
role was awarded to English Shakespearean
actor Brian Deacon. His portrayal of
Jesus was so convincing that bystanders
often broke into applause at the end
of his speeches.
Before its
release, the film changed the lives of
many who were involved. A college dropout
who worked with props on the film received
Christ as Savior and Lord. A Warner Bros.
executive also asked Christ to come into
his life after a distribution planning
meeting.
Warner Brothers
distributed the completed film, and "JESUS" opened
in U.S. theaters in late 1979.
Within a
year, millions of Americans in 2,000
theaters had seen the "JESUS" film, inspiring
many decisions by viewers across the
country to accept Christ into their lives.
But, as already
stated, from its inception the "JESUS" film
was envisioned as an evangelistic tool
to be used worldwide. The film was produced
to fully support that vision. The simple
narrative taken straight from the Gospel
of Luke made it easily adaptable for
translation into any language.
To make this
vision a reality, the film project needed
a strong and capable leader. Dr. Bright
asked Paul Eshleman, who had been involved
with the film from the start, to head
The JESUS Film Project. And thus, this
worldwide evangelistic film ministry
was born. |
