Scorsese reportedly meets with Pope
Martin Scorsese has another film about Jesus in the works, he reportedly revealed during a visit to the Vatican.
The director met with Pope Francis on Saturday before going to the “Global Aesthetics of the Catholic Imagination” conference in Rome, according to Variety.
“I have responded to the Pope’s appeal to artists in the only way I know how: by imagining and writing a screenplay for a film about Jesus,” Scorsese reportedly said at the conference. “And I’m about to start making it.”
Scorsese, 80, previously directed 1988’s “The Last Temptation of Christ,” which stars Willem
Dafoe as Jesus. He also co-wrote and directed 2016’s “Silence,” which starred Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver as Jesuit priests. The filmmaker did not release plot details for his new movie.
Scorsese, a 14-time Oscar nominee, won best director in 2007 for “The Departed” and is known for such films as “Goodfellas,” “Gangs of New York,” “Raging Bull” and “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
Roker back on ‘Today’ after knee surgery:
Al Roker’s new knee made its “Today” debut Tuesday after the longtime weatherman underwent surgery earlier this month. Roker returned to co-host the third hour of the NBC morning program and gave viewers an update on his recovery following a threeweek hiatus. The anchor had total knee replacement surgery May 9.
“I feel good,” Roker told co-hosts Craig Melvin, Dylan Dreyer and Sheinelle Jones.
“This was a much more involved operation because they were taking out a knee and then putting
a knee back in — put some other stuff in. But that said, it’s coming along well.”
This marks Roker’s second knee replacement surgery — “a replacement of a replacement,” he said — after undergoing a similar procedure 23 years ago.
In November, Roker also took a break from “Today” after he was hospitalized for blood clots in his leg and lungs. He departed the show again in December after experiencing complications related to the prior health scare.
Klein to release ‘more personal’ book:
Activist and bestselling author Naomi Klein has a book coming out in September that will combine personal reflections with political reporting and cultural commentary.
Farrar, Straus & Giroux recently announced that in “Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World,” Klein will explore a time
rife with “confusion across political, technological, environmental and medical spheres.”
Klein said in a statement that the book was a “departure” for her, “more personal, more experimental” and will explore “what it feels like to watch one’s identity slip away in the digital ether.”
Klein’s previous books include “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism” and “On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal.”
May 31 birthdays: Actor Clint Eastwood is 93. Singer Peter Yarrow is 85. Actor Gregory Harrison is 73. Actor Chris Elliott is 63. Actor Lea Thompson is 62. Rapper DMC is 59. Actor Brooke Shields is 58. Bassist Christian Mcbride is 51. Actor Colin Farrell is 47. Rapper Waka Flocka Flame is 37. Singer Normani Hamilton is 27.