If you're a director looking to cast Jesus, we're not sure that Joaquin Phoenix is the first person who would spring in to your mind. But that's what happened to Garth Davis, who is making a film about Mary Magdalene with Rooney Mara starring, and wants Phoenix to join her.
The producers behind The King's Speech are putting this one together, and are hoping that Phoenix will sign on, though he's notoriously hard to pin down these days, so it may end up stalling at early conversations.
And while both Mara and Phoenix are proven actors, casting them as Mary Magdalene and Jesus will no doubt be controversial – there have already been complaints of whitewashing over the choice of Mara, given that Magdalene's background in Middle Eastern and Jewish.
Helen Edmundson and Philippa Goslett wrote the script, which aims to explore more of Mary's life, taking a closer look at a woman who has usually been a tangential figure in the life of Christ, and who has had her reputation shifted to that of a a repentant prostitute, a claim that supported by the Gospels.
Phoenix is a producer on CAMP: The Documentary and is attached to play Napoleon Childs in Casey Affleck's new film Far Bright Star.