Joe Alblas/A+E Networks, LLC Have you been hoping for a sequel to The Bible? Your prayers have been answered.
NBC announced today that it will be producing a follow-up to The Bible, the massively successful miniseries from Mark Burnett that aired on the History Channel.
Tentatively titled A.D.: Beyond the Bible, the sequel will begin in the days after Jesus' death and it will follow the "perfect storm" that is "fueled by social injustice, Roman military oppression and religious unrest" in the Holy Land.
"NBC is thrilled to bring this highly-anticipated sequel to Mark and Roma's The Bible to network television," Jennifer Salke, the president of NBC Entertainment said in a statement. "There was huge interest in this project within the television community and NBC is gratified by Mark's confidence in our ability to partner with him and position this miniseries as true event television." (NBC and E! are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
Bob Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment added: "I followed the development process of The Bible closely with Mark and knew that the story was far from over after Christ's crucifixion. In fact, what happened in the aftermath—which is essentially the beginning of Christianity—is utterly fascinating. The day after The Bible premiered, I told Mark we were on board with no hesitation for the follow-up miniseries. This will be attention-getting in every way, and we're proud to continue our association with Mark which has just grown exponentially from The Voice."
The Bible premiered in March to more than 13 million viewers and became the top-selling miniseries of all time and the number one television series on DVD and Blu-Ray in the past five years. It's already sold one million copies since hitting the shelves three months ago.