Nativity Gets a Director
Since the Bible proved itself a bit of a "cash cow" with The Passion of the Christ, New Line quickly bought the rights to Mike Rich's script, Nativity, which focuses on the B.C. life of the Virgin Mary:
Rich's script covers the two-year period in Mary and Joseph's life culminating in their departure from Nazareth and 100-mile journey to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus.
Now, in a recent development, Catherine Hardwicke, director of Lords of Dogtown and Thirteen has been picked to helm the project. I don't think I'm alone when I say she needs to take this in a completely different direction than The Passion of the Christ. Gibson wanted everything so authentic-- it's boring. I think the language thing alone scared off a lot of people. I'm not saying change the story, just add some dinosaurs. Not as main characters or anything, just kind of wandering around so you can say, "Hey, is that a dinosaur back there? I think that's a T-Rex behind the Blessed Virgin." Maybe have a few get their jaws torn open, like in King Kong. And at the end, when she gives birth, maybe Jesus comes out smoking a cigar.