Hollywood stars turn to The Bible

Jim Caviezel, the actor who played Jesus Christ in the very successful The Passion of the Christ,  has been called upon to reprise his role of Messiah. Only this time, it's just his voice that's required.

Carl Amari, a 43-year-old entrepreneur from Chicago, has reportedly got Caviezel on board for his latest project -- The Word of Promise, a superbly produced dramatic reading of The Bible by Hollywood stars that, when completed, will take up 70 CDs!

According to a report in The LA Times, April 18, 2007, the first part of the project, comprising 20 CDs, will hit stores this October, just in time for holiday shopping. And Caviezel isn't the only highlight, considering the cast (of over 100 people) includes Terence Stamp (as God), Luke Perry (Judas), Lou Diamond Phillips (Mark), John Schneider (James), John Heard (Matthew), Richard Dreyfuss (Moses), and the lovely Marisa Tomei (Mary Magdalene). All that Amari now needs is someone to read for the powerful part of Satan. It can't be an easy decision to make, considering Satan has great lines in The Bible, and his voice needs to be a combination of something devilish as well as seductive.

Amari knows he has to be careful though. Getting people upset over a religious text is no light matter. This is why, according to the report, a team of scholars has been brought in to check every pronunciation and ensure every line is true to the St James Version of The Bible.

Apparently, the entrepreneur came up with the idea while reading the Bible to his children one night. He thought his own voice was inadequate for the task, considering the dramatic, hugely eloquent text he held in his hands.

If Mel Gibson wanted to create powerful cinema with the text, Amari wants to reinvent it, letting listeners actually hear ships at sea, the fires of hell, and the sound of battlefields, using state-of-the-art audio effects. The ambitious project is to be released by the world's largest Bible publisher, Thomas Nelson Publishers Inc.

This isn't exactly the first such project of its kind. 2006 saw The Bible Experience, with African-American stars like Denzel Washington, Cuba Gooding Jr and Samuel L Jackson reading parts from the Bible.

What Amari is banking on is the presence of Jim Caviezel, who also happens to be the project's co-producer. The Passion of the Christ cost $30 million to make, and grossed approximately $612 million in theatres worldwide. Religion is clearly big business.

Will this set of CDs make history too?