Speaking of Christian stories, do you need permission from anyone to adapt stories from the Bible? I assume you wouldn't.

There's a word missing between "you" and "permission". I'm going to infer that you mean "need".

No, you don't need permission to adapt stories from the Bible, since the writings are (supposed to be) at least two thousand years old.

Quoted from ABennettWriter There's a word missing between "you" and "permission". I'm going to infer that you mean "need".

No. There's not.  

Quoted from ABennettWriter No, you don't need permission to adapt stories from the Bible, since the writings are (supposed to be) at least two thousand years old.

Thanks. I didn't think so. The same would go for Shakespeare, too. Yeah?

Re-make Milton's Sampson Agoniste.

It is religious.. and oddly cool.

You could modernize it - think Baz Lurman's Romeo and Juliet.  It is what I'd do if I was religious and wanted to make a christian film.

Still, it might be a little above your budget.

Since Shakespeare's been dead since the 1400s, I don't think he'd mind.

You have to be careful not to copy someone else's interpretation. You can't remake R&J as a modern day gang fight in Venice Beach, CA, just like you can't put Iago and Othello on a basketball team and call it O.

Copyright expires 75 years after the writer has passed away, unless otherwise noted. I know with Peter Pan, another book was written to save the characters.

Before you adapt anything, do your research on the copyright.

Back to the Bible, since it's over 2000 years old, you have nothing to worry about.

I don't think Milton would mind a remake of Sampson Agoniste.  One he is dead.  And two, he wrote it off of four lines from the bible.  If he took Chris to court he wouldn't have a skeletal leg to stand on.  When I said modernize it, I meant style wise.  Don't think Sampson would be very good on a basketball court, but done in a stylized way like R&J? Yeah, I'd see it.  It would need a great deal of editing down... Milton was a bit verbose, but in this time of war this story would fit in well.

I saw an adaptation of The Merry Wives of Windsor that was set in the Old West.  You can modernize things any way you want.


Phil

I seen a minimalist version of Hamlet where everyone wore star trek like uniforms.  It was a blast.

A lot can be done with written material if the director is willing to give it a unique vision and place. As long as the writing is good... the visual part is just an added bonus.  Same with acting.