Paul, Apostle of Christ Information

Paul, Apostle of Christ is a 2018 American biblical drama film written and directed by Andrew Hyatt. It stars James Faulkner as Saint Paul and Jim Caviezel (who portrayed Jesus in the 2004 film The Passion of the Christ) as Saint Luke. The film tells the story of Paul, who was known as a ruthless persecutor of Christians, only to convert to the faith. The plot focuses on him becoming a pivotal figure in the formation of the early church before eventually being executed by Emperor Nero in Rome.

Principal photography began in September 2017 in Malta. The film was released on March 23, 2018, by Sony Pictures.

Synopsis

The setting is Mamertine Prison in Rome where Paul has been imprisoned because he has been deemed a threat to the Roman Empire. Emperor Nero has sentenced him to death. Paul's long journey to this place has been eventful. At one time"?as Saul"?he persecuted Christians relentlessly. And then he converted to Christianity. That is when Paul became the persecuted. His path has involved degradation, torture and shipwreck. At Mamertine he interacts with his jailer, Mauritius, and Luke, the evangelist. Mauritius is curious about Paul and seeks to learn how this one man can have such a profound effect on the empire. Luke, his dutiful caretaker, takes this opportunity to write the ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, a history of the early church. Meanwhile the infamous persecution of the Christians under Nero is in full effect. As the time draws near to the date of his execution, Paul struggles with God's forgiveness for his sins. He must constantly remember God's grace and near the end says, "where sin is prevalent, grace abounds more."

Cast

• James Faulkner as Saint Paul
• Jim Caviezel as Saint Luke
• Olivier Martinez as Mauritius, prefect of Mamertine Prison
• Antonia Campbell-Hughes as Irenica, wife of Mauritius
• Joanne Whalley as Priscilla, companion of Paul and Aquilla's wife
• John Lynch as Aquilla, companion of Paul and Priscilla's husband
• Noah Huntley as Publius
• Yorgos Karamihos as Saul of Tarsus, i.e. Paul before his conversion to Christianity

Themes

In an interview with Variety, Berden said that one of the main themes of the film is forgiveness: "Paul changed from murdering Christians to becoming their unlikely leader. His life personifies "?forgiveness,"? a concept that seems almost impossible today "? but desperately needed."

Production

Development

Producer T.J. Berden, recognizing the emergence of new platforms for movie distribution which allows the viewer access anytime, anywhere, partnered with Hyatt to produce a series of film projects to capitalize on the new technologies. The first film resulting from the collaboration was Full of Grace which was released in 2016. Paul, Apostle of Christ is the second film of the series.

Writing

In a featurette released about the film writer/director Andrew Hyatt explains his approach in developing a bible-based screenplay:

In Paul, Luke presents an important plot element in the script:

Casting

Jim Caviezel was cast as Saint Luke. It is his first biblical role since he portrayed Jesus in The Passion of the Christ in 2004. Caviezel's performance in the blockbuster film was met with critical acclaim. In an interview with National Catholic Reporter Caviezel said that Mel Gibson told him that the role would ruin his career; and he "has no regrets about playing the most iconic role of all time". Caviezel explains how he prepared for the role of Luke:

James Faulkner, who portrays Saint Paul, starred as Randyll Tarly in HBO's Game of Thrones and in 2013 he played Pope Sixtus IV in BBC"?s Da Vinci"?s Demons. Joanne Whalley, in the role of Priscilla, had biblical roles previously as Pilate"?s wife Claudia in A.D. The Bible Continues (2015) and Noah's wife Emmie in The Ark (2015). Priscilla's husband, Aquila is played by John Lynch. Lynch is known for The Secret Garden, as well as roles from the Bible as Sagan in The Passion (2008), Gabriel in The Nativity (2010) and Nicodemus in Killing Jesus (2015).

Filming

According to Yorgos Karamihos, the director and producers urged the actors to be "as authentic and visceral as possible in order to be real", rather than take into consideration sensibilities of various religious groups.

The filming was done on location on Malta. St. Paul's Island, in Malta, is known as the location where Paul and Luke were shipwrecked on their way to Rome. Many of the crew who worked on the film were culled from another production filmed in Malta, HBO's Game of Thrones. Karamihos said they were "some of the best people [in the local film industry]." Karamihos found Malta to be "one of the strangest places I've ever seen in my life - it is so built up for such a small place." He described it as "a strange combination of Africa, Asia, and Europe, bringing together all three continents both in the language and the culture and aesthetic."

Release

Paul, Apostle of Christ was originally scheduled to be released on the Wednesday before Easter, March 28, 2018, by Affirm Films. However, in February 2018, the film's release date was moved up to March 23, 2018.

Box office

In the United States and Canada, Paul, Apostle of Christ will be released alongside Pacific Rim Uprising, Midnight Sun, Unsane and Sherlock Gnomes, and was projected to gross $2-7 million from 1,473 theaters in its opening weekend. It ended up debuting to $5 million, finishing 8th at the box office.

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 38% based on 24 reviews, and an average rating of 5.4/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Paul, Apostle of Christ proves a well-intentioned yet disappointingly diffuse interpretation of a Bible story whose flashes of potential never come close to living up to the source material." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 48 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.

Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, saying: "It's an impressively-staged, well-acted, thoughtful and faithful telling of the last days of the Apostle Paul "? and how Luke risked his life again and again to visit his great mentor in prison and make a written record of Paul's life experiences and teachings."

The Washington Posts Ann Hornaday gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, applauding Faulkner and Caviezel's performances and calling the film a "relevant "? and inspiring "? portrayal of principled steadfastness and spiritual integrity in the face of a petty, corrupt and tyrannical leader."

The Hollywood Reporters Todd McCarthy said the film was "missing passion" and wrote: "The life of the crucial evangelist Paul has everything needed for a powerful film, but the filmmakers picked the wrong part of his life to dramatize in Paul, Apostle of Christ, a soupy, conjectural take on how the widely-traveled proselytizer came to produce his account of spreading Jesus' word throughout the Mediterranean world."

See also