We’re in the middle of a particularly momentous new era for faith-based movies, which has been building toward the long-awaited The Passion of the Christ sequels. In recent years, several movies aimed at religious audiences — a rather underserved demographic — have broken through at the box office. The animated movies David and The King of Kings were particularly successful, having grossed around $150 million in combined box-office revenue. Meanwhile, actors such as Alan Ritchson and Sam Worthington have both found success in the field, while shows such as The Chosen and House of David have continued to draw large audiences. All of this is to say that now is the best time to revisit arguably the greatest religious epic of all time, a film that is currently streaming for free around the world on a new platform.
The movie in question is synonymous with a certain kind of lavish Hollywood epic, the sort that Christopher Nolan recently revived with The Odyssey. It was released in 1959 and directed by William Wyler, grossing a mammoth $146 million worldwide, the second-highest haul ever at the time. The movie was produced on a record-breaking (at the time) $15 million budget, with an additional $14 million being spent on publicity. At 212 minutes long, including an overture and intermission, the film remains etched in Hollywood history.
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