As we’ve seen time after time in recent years, Paul Schrader has become more and more outspoken when it comes to the current state of the film and TV business. Of course, with a filmography and history in the business like Schrader, few are equally qualified to discuss these sorts of topics with any expertise. And in a new interview with The New Yorker, Schrader continues to hypothesize what the future of the film and TV industry will be, specifically post-COVID, and in doing so, he drops a hint at what might be his first foray into prestige TV.
In previous interviews and comments, Schrader has put forth many ideas about where Hollywood is headed in the future. Whether that’s with the ubiquitous nature of streaming services like Netflix or the slow (but accelerated by COVID) destruction of the traditional theatrical release strategy, the filmmaker knows things are changing in major ways over the next year or more. But much like his colleague, Martin Scorsese, Schrader has rolled with the punches, adapting to the new paradigm, and releasing films that are gaining acclaim but also can secure funding in this new world (most recently seen in “First Reformed” and his upcoming film, “The Card Counter”).
And for his next project working alongside Scorsese, it appears the duo is going to continue to evolve with the times by working on a prestige drama series that will likely head to some sort of streaming service. When asked about whether or not he would make a streaming-exclusive project, Schrader not only answered but teased what it might be.
“Yeah. Well, Scorsese and I are planning something, and it is . . . it would be a three-year series about the origins of Christianity,” said Schrader. “It’s based on the Apostles and on the Apocrypha. It’s called ‘The Apostles and Apocrypha.’ Because people sort of know the New Testament, but nobody knows the Apocrypha. And back in the first century, there was no New Testament, there’s just these stories. And some were true, and some weren’t, and some were forgeries.”
Obviously, religion is a topic that Scorsese and Schrader love to cover in films. They famously worked together, with Schrader writing and Scorsese directing “The Last Temptation of Christ.” And clearly, this upcoming series, wherever it ends up, will likely be a sort of project that feels akin to ‘Last Temptation.’ In more recent years, Scorsese has also talked about religion in the film “Silence,” while Schrader went into it in the aforementioned “First Reformed.” So, it’ll be interesting to see what their POV is when it comes to Christianity in 2021. We shall see.