Once more, with feeling.

Regardt van den Bergh is a pretty big name in South African film circles, responsible for such local hits as Faith Like Potatoes and Hansie. Now his star is set to shine even brighter as a Hollywood producer has stumped up US$20 million for a new production, written and directed by Van den Bergh and set in and around the events of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Van den Bergh reports that he has been developing the script to The Lamb for over a decade. It’s set in Jerusalem at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and will focus on a Jewish family dealing with issues of forgiveness and faith, while the events of the end of Christ’s life take place around them.

The script was picked up by LA-based producer, Frank Yablans, and pre-production has begun on location in Morocco. Yablans says he had already heard of Van den Bergh, but was swayed by the promotional DVD that Van den Bergh sent to pitch his film script. Says Yablans,

After I watched it for the third time, I realised it would not just be another Jesus film. This is a movie with a secular, universal message. It’s about forgiveness.

As yet, no casting news has been released, though reportedly, Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus in Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ, has shown interest in reprising the role. Van den Bergh is apparently pursuing an “epic” type production, which should be interesting on a meagre US$20 million. I predict lots of badly CGI’d Romans.

[Source: News24, Sarie]