The Change Revolution with Phil Cooke

Dispatches from the front lines of media, faith, and culture

Do You Know the Most Watched Movie of All Time?

From my friend Randall Murphree: What is the most watched movie of all time? It is probably not your first guess-unless, of course, you said The JESUS Film. The movie on the life of Jesus has been making its way around the globe again and again for the last 25 years. The cumulative total for viewing and listening is more than 6.2 billion people. It has aired on television in 176 countries. More than 1,500 denominations and missions agencies use the film to share the gospel. Paul Eshleman, president of The JESUS Film Project, stated that "The JESUS Film has been shown in Russia's former communist town halls, in bamboo huts in Borneo and even on bed sheets in isolated villages in Saharan Africa. For some viewers, this is their first look at a movie image, and for most, their first look at the most famous man in history-Jesus Christ."

The JESUS Film Project was created to provide the movie to people around the world in their own language. Sometimes the film has been carried on foot to remote places-along with generators, portable screens, and projectors-so that people could see it.

(see www.afa.net)


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Its great that its being used as an evangelistic tool, but personally, I think the Jesus film is a bland, dull adaptation. Jesus of Nazareth is far better.

I agree with Simon. In this case, it's not about the quality or power of this particular film, it's about the remarkable mobilization that The Jesus Film Project has done to show it around the world. I'd say it's more of an "evangelism" success than a "movie" success.

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