The History of the JESUS film

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.

1000 languages and over 3 Billions viewers!

Today, "JESUS" has been translated into more than 1000 languages, with a goal of over 1500! More than 3 billion people around the globe have viewed the film, in over 6 billions viewings, making it the most tranlated and most watched film in history.

Over the past 25 years, over 210 millions decisions for Christ have been receorded by our film teams and pattners.

What about follow-up?

The most common question we receive is, "What do you do for follow-up of new believers?" To find out about our discipleship ministry and how we are carin for these new Christians, click here.

Find out how to order copies of this life-changing film by clicking here.

From www.jesusfilm.org