‘The Gospel of John’ earns praise from both secular and faith-based media

NEW YORK, N.Y. — “The Gospel of John,” after having strong draws in limited release nationwide, will open in expanded markets in coming weeks.

A surprise big-screen hit, the first of numerous films to emerge on the life of Christ, “The Gospel of John” has been added to 52 new markets from coast to coast. The film opened commercially in late September in Dallas and Charlotte, N.C. It arrived in Los Angeles Nov. 14 and will open in New York in January. In all, the film is expected to be showing on 250 screens in 100 cities by January.

According to its distributor, ThinkFilm, “The Gospel of John,” called “thought-provoking entertainment” by the Associated Press, garnered the highest per-screen dollar average of any film playing during its U.S. premiere and continues to post strong figures nationwide.

“The Gospel of John” is a word-for-word dramatization of the life and times of Jesus Christ drawn from the American Bible Society’s “Good News Translation.”

The three-hour epic has garnered critical praise from both secular and faith-based press and opinion makers nationwide and has already grossed more than $1 million dollars in just a handful of markets.

The movie, representing a collaboration of Academy, Emmy and Tony Award-winning artists, received high accolades from the entertainment industry’s leading trade paper “Variety.”

“The response to ‘The Gospel of John,’ both commercially and critically, has proven to us that there can be a sizeable audience of this sort of entertainment, particularly when it is made with such high professional standards,” said Jeff Sackman, president of ThinkFilm. “Not only does it succeed from an inspirational point of view, it also works in terms of history, literature, and most importantly, drama. We are thrilled that the audience demand is there and we are looking forward to satisfying it.”

Narrated by renowned actor Christopher Plummer, “The Gospel of John” introduces, in his first starring role, British actor Henry Ian Cusick as Jesus Christ and a distinguished ensemble cast from Canada and the United Kingdom. The film is directed by British director Philip Saville (“Metroland;” “Hamlet;” “Oedipus the King”), co-produced by Garth H. Drabinsky (“The Changeling;” “Ragtime;” “Kiss of the Spider Woman”), and adapted for the screen by screenwriter John Goldsmith (“Victoria and Albert;” “Return of the Saint;” “Great Expectations”).

“The Gospel of John” is a production of Visual Bible International Inc., a publicly traded, faith-based media company. The company has secured exclusive, worldwide rights for select translations of both the Old and New Testaments on a word-for-word basis and plans to release a new major motion picture based on a book of the Bible each year. “The Gospel of John” is the first film of that series. The Toronto-based company is committed to creating films with exceptional production values that maintain the integrity of the biblical works.

Published by Keener Communications Group, December 2003

Published by Keener Communications Group, March 2007