Martin Scorsese has landed a deal to produce a dramatized documentary series about Christian saints – and it will stream on Fox Nation in November 2024.
The series will have eight hour-long episodes, with each one focusing on a different saint and their stories. Notable figures that the show will focus on include Joan of Arc, Francis of Assisi, John the Baptist, and Mary Magdalene.
The one-time Oscar-winner, who directed classics such as ‘Taxi Driver’ and ‘The Wolf of Wall Street,’ was perhaps a natural choice for Fox given that he also directed the 1988 drama ‘The Last Temptation of Christ.’
‘Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints’ will have its first four episodes air on November 16. The remaining four will come to streaming in May 2025.
Scorsese said in a statement: ‘I’ve lived with the stories of the saints for most of my life, thinking about their words and actions, imagining the worlds they inhabited, the choices they faced, the examples they set.’
Martin Scorsese attends the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party on March 10, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California
Pope Francis meets with Martin Scorsese during an audience at his studio of the Paul VI Hall on January 31, 2024 in Vatican City, Vatican
He continued: ‘These are stories of eight very different men and women, each of them living through vastly different periods of history and struggling to follow the way of love revealed to them and to us by Jesus’ words in the gospels.
‘I’m so excited that this project is underway, and that I’m working with so many trusted and talented collaborators.’
Scorsese will be featured front and center as the main narrator of the series as it retells classic tales of Christian saints spanning over 2,000 years of history and touching nearly every continent.
On top of that, Scorsese will be leading on-camera interviews with religious experts.
The upcoming Fox Nation exclusive is another addition to its nearly 10,000 hours of ‘faith, historic and entertainment programming.’
Director Martin Scorsese on the set of his film ‘Silence’ in 2016. The movie’s plot follows two 17th-century Jesuit priests
The streaming service is looking to carve out a lane for itself as an entertainment hub for conservatives.
With shows featuring A-list actors such as Kevin Costner, Rob Lowe and Dan Aykroyd, Fox Nation’s plan to appeal to right-leaning audiences is well underway.
Scorsese’s affinity for films with Christian themes is well known. In 2016, he directed ‘Silence’ starring Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver as Jesuit priests who travel to Asia to find their mentor and spread the gospel.
The storied director told the Los Angeles Times in January that he completed the screenplay for a film based on Shūsaku Endō’s book “A Life of Jesus.” Endō also wrote Scorsese’s film ‘Silence’.
Earlier this year, Scorsese visited Vatican City to meet with Pope Francis.
He was raised in New York City and had a Catholic upbringing, with his family hailing from Sicily, Italy.