Once Upon a Time in Jerusalem pits Jesus against demons and zombies

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

In 2012, Spanish filmmakers David Muñoz and Adrián Cardona teamed up to make a 15 minute short film called FIST OF JESUS, which imagined what might have happened if Jesus Christ's resurrection of Lazarus had accidentally brought the man back as a flesh-eating zombie. The result is an off-the-wall, blood-soaked zombie horror/comedy that just happens to have Jesus as the lead protagonist. And he dispatches zombies with the fish he's able to multiply.

Muñoz and Cardona have long been hoping to expand FIST OF JESUS into a feature film, and the feature version is getting close to happening now. Films Boutique recently picked up the international rights and will be presenting the project to potential buyers at the Cannes Film Festival.

Titled ONCE UPON A TIME IN JERUSALEM, the feature will follow 

the adventures of Jesus and Judas in a world inhabited by zombies, demons, cowboys, Roman soldiers, mutants, post-apocalyptic punks and all kind of critters.

After failing to resurrect Lazarus from the dead, a young Jesus accidentally creates a zombie apocalypse, which Jesus and Judas battle, recruiting 11 mercenaries.

Films Boutique's Jean-Christophe Simon had this to say about the project: 

‘Jerusalem’ is one of the craziest and funniest projects we ever read. Revisiting the story of Jesus, the film clearly shows cult potential and will please fans of both early Peter Jackson and Monty Python films."

Canal Plus is backing ONCE UPON A TIME IN JERUSALEM and plans to have the film in production by the end of the year.