‘JESUS’ MOVIE AUDIENCE PASSES 4 BILLION MARK

by Glen on 2001-12-17 00:10:23

More than 4 billion people have seen the “Jesus” film-though some of the massive aggregate audience is made up of repeat viewers.

Paul Eshleman, director of The “Jesus” Film Project, announced recently that the movie–regarded as the most translated film of all time–is currently available in 638 language versions and has been seen in 234 countries. A dramatized audio version of the film is available in 124 languages. Eshleman estimated that “through the current translations, 90 percent of the world — approximately 5.6 billion people — could listen right now to the ‘Jesus’ film in their mother tongue.”

Despite its widespread distribution, the film still needs to be translated in languages of people who have never heard the gospel, Eshleman said. For example, the film is only available in 28 of Nigeria’s 435 languages.

Technicians for the film’s master studio in Orlando, Fla., finish a new translation of the movie on the average of every four days. Currently, 280 additional translations are in process. Eshleman hopes to see at least 100 more translations of the feature-length film completed during 2001. Produced 20 years ago by Campus Crusade for Christ, the evangelistic film of the life of Christ is based on Luke’s gospel and ends with an invitation for the viewer to pray to become a Christian.