'The Bible' History Channel Series, Sequel Announced to Air on NBC [VIDEO]
The Bible miniseries is getting a sequel in the form of a new NBC production, according to Monday reports.
NBC won the bidding war to air the follow-up to the Mark Burnett-Roma Downey-produced miniseries, which aired originally on the History Channel. The sequel is tentatively titled A.D.: Beyond the Bible and will begin after the death of Jesus Christ.
"There was huge interest in this project within the television community," said NBC president Jennifer Salke in a statement, "and NBC is gratified by Mark's confidence in our ability to partner with him and position this miniseries as true event television."
Over 13 million viewers watched The Bible's March 3 premiere and ratings never got below 10 million viewers in its five-week run. The miniseries was released on DVD on April 2, two days after it finished airing on History. NBC is hoping to capitalize on its worldwide success.
"I followed the development process of The Bible closely with Mark and knew that the story was far from over after Christ's Crucifixion," said NBC chairman Robert Greenblatt. "In fact, what happened in the aftermath - which is essentially the beginning of Christianity - is utterly fascinating. This will be attention-getting in every way."
According to the sequel's logline, A.D.: Beyond the Bible will chronicle the lives of Christ's disciples as they fight for their beliefs against the Romans and a host of other adversaries. As they struggle for survival, "the fate of Israel, of Rome and of their faith is decided."
The Bible is estimated to have been seen by 95 million viewers in the U.S. with the combination of original airings and DVD and Blu-Ray sales. It became the best-selling miniseries of all time in its first week of release with over 520,000 units sold. It also became the highest-selling TV on DVD product in the last five years.
A release date has not yet been set for A.D.: Beyond the Bible.
Watch a trailer for The Bible miniseries here:
