The way is now paved. “The
Coming” is coming!
Plot Summary:
Josephus, a Jewish priest and army general, is
captured by the Romans during the Jewish-Roman War
of A.D. 66-70. While in prison, he prophesies that Vespasian will become
Caesar. When this occurs,
he is released and becomes Rome’s historian and war mediator with the Jews.
Through it all, his faith is challenged, he triumphs over adversity, and
discovers the truth about the history-changing fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
In the end, he converts to Christianity and is reunited with and marries the
woman he spurned but loves. (Based on recorded history.)
Setting:
“The Coming”
dramatically presents the clashing of three huge forces drawn into battle with
one another during one of the most significant time periods in human
history—A.D. 62-70.
1)
On one side are the Romans:
organized, cohesive, confident, rulers of the known world.
2)
On the other side are the
Christians: scattered, questioning, and emerging with
little or no tangible organization.
3)
In the center are the Jews, partitioned into two groups:
·
the zealots provoking war with
Rome and
·
the moderates seeking to live at
peace with Rome.
Herein, collide the paganism and materialism of
Rome, the end of biblical Judaism, and the emergence
of a new faith called Christianity.
Possible
Audience Response:
Loaded with action, visual
imagery, compelling characters, intriguing dialogue, and special effects,
“The Coming” is destined to open wonderful doors of thought and spark many
conversations among viewers and reviewers.
It’s a film whose time has come.
“The Coming” is coming!
Storyline:
The story is told through the eyes of Flavius
Josephus, the reluctant scribe, whose written account is
the only eyewitness account of this period. Josephus is a Jewish priest who
serves in Temple. He is attracted to a beautiful, young Jewess named Maya, the
sister of his priestly friend Samuel.
When hostilities with Rome break out, suspense
builds. Maya and Samuel announce they have become Christians and in obedience
to Jesus’ prophetic command flee Jerusalem for Pella. Josephus is outraged.
However, he has been appointed a general in the Jewish army and given the
responsibility to prepare and defend the region of Galilee. So, he, too, must
leave Jerusalem and his Temple service.
Josephus fights valiantly until the Romans
capture him early in the war. The Roman general, Vespasian, is so impressed
with Josephus’ youth, leadership, and ingenuity, he has Josephus brought
before him before deciding his fate. Whereupon, Josephus prophesies that
Vespasian will become Caesar, the Roman emperor. He is imprisoned. While in
prison, Josephus struggles with his growing love for Maya and the torturous
turn his life has taken. A year later, however, his prophecy about Vespasian
is fulfilled; Josephus is released from his prison and made the official Roman
interpreter, mediator, and historian during the remainder of the war.
During the final siege of Jerusalem in A.D. 70,
Josephus is torn between his allegiance to the Temple
and to Rome. He attempts to persuade the Jews to surrender and the Romans to
exercise restraint, which would spare the city and the Temple. Complicating
matters further is a forty-year-old prophecy, made
by Jesus of Nazareth, of the Temple’s destruction. When all his efforts fail,
Josephus is devastated.
The city and the Temple are burned and destroyed, exactly as and when Jesus
had prophesied. Now, everything that Josephus has known and lived for appears
lost.
Yet through it all, Josephus triumphs over one
adversity after another. In the end, he is brought face-to-face with and
personally encounters a coming of Jesus Christ. In a dramatic reversal, he
discovers, and later writes of Jesus, “He was the Christ.” He converts, goes
to Rome, lives in Caesar’s palace, marries his spurned Jewish sweetheart,
Maya, and writes his eyewitness accounts of this most significant historical
period for all posterity.
Themes:
·
“The Coming”
is the story of Josephus’ spiritual journey—his
coming out of one system of faith and into another, and another.
·
It’s also the story of the coming
of a new spiritual order that displaces and destroys the old, as well as a
coming of Christ in divine judgment, in theophanic appearances, and in precise
fulfillment of prophecy.
·
It’s a vivid and dynamic story
about faith in many forms: faith in religion, faith in institutions, faith in
self, faith in intuition, faith in oracles, faith in signs, faith in prophecy,
faith in the seen, and faith in
the unseen.
·
The audience watches as Josephus
and others resist, struggle, and grow through these conflicting paradigms of
faith and with their sense of mission.
Based on:
“The Coming”
is closely tied to historical events recorded in the works of
Flavius Josephus (A.D. 37 - c.100) and Hegesippus (A.D. c.170).
Subsequent history has proven that the A.D. 70
destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, and the resultant freeing of
Christianity from its Jewish roots to become its own independent religion, has
forever changed the destiny of the world. The historic and religious
significance of this time period is based on John Noē’s forthcoming book
titled The End Is Past! Demythologizing a Pop-Culture Tradition.
Special Effects:
The brutality, violence, and
atrocities of this period are exceptional and are brought forth in four major
battle scenes, an execution scene, a mass-crucifixion scene, and a
mass-suicide scene. These scenes need to be portrayed, realistically and
graphically, as comparable scenes are depicted in the movies “Gladiator” and
“Troy.” Likewise, the realism and grandeur of 1st-century Jerusalem and its
Temple—“famous throughout the world” (2 Maccabees 2:22)—needs to be of
“Gladiator-,” “Troy-,” and “Narnia-”like quality.
The supernatural signs that reportedly appeared
in the sky above Jerusalem prior to the start of the war, and which are
documented in Josephus’ writings, will also require explicit and high-quality
special effects to make them appear authentic and powerful.
Marketing Comparison:
The timing for the coming of “The Coming”
is perfect. It is comparable to four recent action-period films that
included intense violence and major battle scenes. It also follows on the
heels of two religiously themed blockbusters (from IMDb 7/11/06):
Primary Characters:
Josephus – Jewish priest and army general, and
Roman prisoner, historian, and war mediator
Maya – a lovely Jewess, Samuel’s sister, and
Josephus’ love interest
Samuel – a close friend and fellow priest
serving with Josephus in the Temple
Lead Actor Recommendations for Part of Josephus:
Nicholas Cage (Adaptions, Leaving Las Vegas)
Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love, Luther)
Orlando Bloom (Lord of the Rings)
Joaquin Phoenix (Firefighter)
Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic and others)
Secondary Characters:
Ananias – the new Jewish chief high priest
Ananus – the old Jewish chief high priest
Cestius Gallus– the Roman governor of Syria and
Judea
Eleazar – leader of the Jewish Zealot faction
Jesus – Jesus Christ in his post-ascension,
epiphany form
John of Gischala – Jewish leader of a band of
thieves and murderers
Nero – the crazed Emperor (Caesar) of the Roman
Empire
Nicanor – a commander in the Roman army
Philip – the Jewish assistant of Josephus
Teacher – a Jewish-Christian
teacher in the Jerusalem church and in Pella
Titus – son of Vespasian and general of the
Roman army
Vespasian – General of the Roman army and
Emperor of Rome.
Cast Suggestions:
Cameo Roles: Ananus –
Teacher
Sean
Connery
Sir
Alec Guinness
Ben
Kingsley
Cameo Role: Vespasian
Richard Gere
Philip:
Tony Shaloub
Other Possible Thespians:
Joaquin Phoenix
Leonardo DiCaprio
John Cusack
Matt Dillon
Ben Stiller
Colin Farrell
Hugh Laurie
The Sequel to ‘The Passion’?
In the wake of the overwhelming success of “The
Passion of the Christ,” speculation has turned to the question of “What’s
next” in the wave of New Testament-themed movies or more religious films in
general? Yet most recognize that “The Passion” cannot be easily duplicated.
Fact is, one week before his crucifixion in
A.D. 30, Jesus prophesied of his coming and the destruction of Jerusalem and
the Temple. He further specified when this would take place, “I tell you the
truth,” Jesus said, “this generation will certainly not pass away until all
these things have happened” (Matt. 24:34). “The Coming” dramatically
depicts how Jesus’ “all these things” occurred—within one generation, in A.D.
70— exactly as and when He had said and was expected by his 1st-century
followers.
“The Coming”
is not only the rest of the greatest story ever
told. It is, indeed, the epic and biblical sequel to “The Passion of the
Christ.” “The Coming” is coming!
Screenplay Writer’s Bio:
John Noē (pronounced
“No-ee”) holds a Ph.D. in Theology and is the author of four trade-published
books: Peak Performance Principles for High Achievers, People
Power, The Apocalypse Conspiracy and Peak Performance
Principles for High Achievers – Revised Edition.
He is also an award-winning
entrepreneur, was a twenty-year member of the National Speakers Association,
and has been featured on numerous TV and radio programs including CBN’s 700
Club and CNN’s Larry King Live. He is a 12-year member of the
Evangelical Theological Society and has presented and defended 24 theological
papers on eschatological reform issues. Currently, he is president of the
Prophecy Reformation Institute.
Noē has climbed mountains
around the world and lives in Indianapolis with his wife, Cindy. They have two
grown children and nine grandchildren.
For the past four years Noē
has been working with Dr. Ted Baehr, publisher of MovieGuide
magazine/web site, and Linda Seger, script consultant, on the development of
this script.