As the movie business continues to try and survive the COVID-19 outbreak, many have begun to speak out about the industry’s future. Even before the pandemic, the entire Hollywood framework had begun to change as streaming outlets became more prominent, mid-level films giving way to a plethora of blockbusters, and more. Two of the loudest and most respected voices on the topic are Martin Scorsese and Paul Schrader, which makes any collaborative effort from them both intriguing from a creative standpoint but also for what it might say about their respective career directions.
According to Schrader in a New Yorker piece, he and Scorsese are planning to team-up for a series that will tackle one of their favorite issues: religion. The two infamously collaborated on The Last Temptation of Christ, a controversial film that saw Scorsese direct Schrader’s script.
“Yeah. Well, Scorsese and I are planning something, and it is . . . it would be a three-year series about the origins of Christianity,” said Schrader. “It’s based on the Apostles and on the Apocrypha. It’s called ‘The Apostles and Apocrypha.’ Because people sort of know the New Testament, but nobody knows the Apocrypha. And back in the first century, there was no New Testament, there’s just these stories. And some were true, and some weren’t, and some were forgeries.”
The likelihood is a prestige drama series from Scorsese and Schrader would go to a streaming outlet. Scorsese has been working with digital distribution exclusively starting with Netflix on The Irishman ,and Apple for the upcoming Killers of the Flower Moon. Schrader’s last film was the acclaimed First Reformed, while he has The Card Counter on the way led by Oscar Isaac, Tye Sheridan, and Tiffany Haddish.
We’ll see where this goes, but Scorsese and Schrader are two filmmakers who have found a way to stay relevant even during the winds of change.
