The immense success of the History Channel's "The Bible" miniseries has led to the decision on behalf of a major Hollywood production company to create a faith-affirming spinoff, "Jesus of Nazareth."

"We believe the audience continues to have a hunger for life- and faith-affirming films," Michael Landon Jr., who will be writing and producing "Jesus of Nazareth" along with fellow screenwriter Brian Bird, who worked for five seasons on the hit show "Touched by an Angel," told The Hollywood Reporter in a recent interview.

"The monumental success of Mark Burnett and Roma Downey's 'The Bible' just underscores that," Landon added. more >>

Fox News host Bill O'Reilly's upcoming book Killing Jesus: A History is being adapted by the National Geographic Channel into a TV feature, following up on his two previous bestsellers Killing Kennedy and Killing Lincoln.

"I think the popularity of Bill's franchise speaks about how O'Reilly and [Martin] Dugard are turning the notch up at every possible opportunity with these new accounts of history," NGC president Howard Owens told The Hollywood Reporter.

"Killing Lincoln proved our audience's response to factual drama. The audacity of these books is in the way Bill thinks and tells a story. We think it fits really well with the history of the Bible, and we've had a lot of success in the religious genre," he added. more >>

In its fourth week, the History Channel's "The Bible" miniseries has maintained strong ratings above 10 million viewers, continuing to hold the title of most watched television program from 8 p.m.–10 p.m. on Sunday evenings.

The fourth episode of the 10-part miniseries drew 10.3 million viewers, a slightly softer number than its week three ratings of 10.9 million.

Still, the show managed to successfully tap into the key demographic of 3.4 million viewers ages 18-49. more >>

The History Channel's highly-successful miniseries "The Bible" has not only received record-breaking ratings, but it has also managed to teach the majority of viewers something they didn't already know about the Bible, according to a new Barna survey.

The survey, which was recently conducted by the Barna Group and commission by the American Bible Society, found that 69 percent of the viewers questioned claim that by watching the series, they discovered something new about the Bible that they didn't know before. The survey also found that of this 69 percent majority, less than 60 percent of those who answered described themselves as "active Christians," while more than 78 percent described themselves as "less-active Christians."

High school educated adults, non-whites, viewers ages 18-28, singles, and less-active Christians were among those more likely to answer that they had learned something new from "The Bible" miniseries. more >>

Editor's Note: In this two-part series The Christian Post takes a closer look at the success of "The Bible," a History Channel docudrama series produced by Mark Burnett and his wife, Roma Downey. CP interviews two Christians in the entertainment industry who have been quite impactful and part of a growing movement to see more quality faith-based movies coming out of Hollywood. In part one, CP interviewed Mark Joseph, founder of MJM Entertainment Group. In part two, below, Phil Cooke of Cooke Pictures is interviewed.

The Hollywood entertainment industry is getting the message – it's good business to respect Christians in America. Thanks to the incredible number of viewers tuning in each Sunday to The History Channel's "The Bible" miniseries, many leaders in the movie and TV business "totally get that," says author and TV producer Phil Cooke.

"There's no question that decision makers in Hollywood and the media business are getting the message … It's simply good business to respect that audience, and I think the vast majority of media leaders I encounter totally get that," said Cooke. more >>

Editor's Note: In this two-part series The Christian Post takes a closer look at the success of "The Bible," a History Channel docudrama series produced by Mark Burnett and his wife, Roma Downey. Two Christians in the entertainment industry have been quite impactful and part of a growing movement toward more quality faith-based movies coming out of Hollywood. Below is an interview with Mark Joseph, founder of MJM Entertainment Group. Part two is a discussion with Phil Cooke of Cooke Pictures.

The fact that the History Channel's "The Bible" series has reached more than 68 million viewers in just three episodes is not a fluke despite what a large majority of the Hollywood entertainment industry may be thinking, says a film developer and marketer who should know.

"If these types of numbers are true and repeatable, then the entire entertainment industry would have to be rethought, reprioritized and reorganized," producer Mark Joseph told The Christian Post. "So it will attempt to be written off as a fluke. But it's not a fluke if done properly. The audience is there." more >>