How do you follow up two New York Times best-sellers about the assassination of beloved U.S. Presidents? How about a book about the assassination of Jesus himself?
According to publisher Macmillan, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly’s next book will be Killing Jesus, which “will tell the story of Jesus of Nazareth as a beloved and controversial young revolutionary brutally killed by Roman soldiers,” according to the publisher.
The book will be co-written by Martin Dugard, who also co-wrote O’Reilly’s last two books Killing Lincoln and Killing Kennedy.
Killing Lincoln went on to become a TV movie for Nat Geo Channel, and Kennedy has been optioned for a TV movie as well. Given the history, look for Killing Jesus to appear on Nat Geo come 2015.
More information on the new book, after the jump.
BILL O’REILLY TO WRITE ‘KILLING JESUS’
THIRD BOOK IN HIS NO. 1 BEST-SELLING HISTORY SERIES
Publication Scheduled for Fall 2013
NEW YORK, Feb. 20, 2013 – Bill O’Reilly, anchor of the no.1 Fox News program,“The O’Reilly Factor,” and the author of the instant no. 1 best-selling books “Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot,” “Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever ” and the young reader’s edition “Lincoln’s Last Days” will write “Killing Jesus: A History,” a chronicle of the events leading up to the crucifixion, it was announced today by Stephen Rubin, president and publisher of Henry Holt and Company. The book will be published on Sept. 24, 2013, and will be written with Martin Dugard, the co-author of “Killing Kennedy” and “Killing Lincoln.”
“Killing Jesus” will tell the story of Jesus of Nazareth as a beloved and controversial young revolutionary brutally killed by Roman soldiers. O’Reilly will recount the seismic political and historical events that made his death inevitable, and the changes his life brought upon the world for the centuries to follow.
“Jesus Christ has not walked among us physically for more than two thousand years, yet his presence today is felt the world over and his spirit is worshipped by more than 2.2 billion people,” said O’Reilly. “His teachings, his legacy, his life as a flesh-and-blood man, and his death created the world in which we live.”
“It is inarguable that Jesus was the most influential man to have ever lived,” said Rubin. “I can think of no one better than Bill O’Reilly to write this story in a way that has never been told before.”
O’Reilly’s New York Times bestsellers include many previous no. 1 best-selling books in the categories of memoir and politics, such as the no. 1 bestseller “A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity.” He is the recipient of many journalism awards, including three Emmys. He holds master’s degrees from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and from Boston University. He appeared with Jon Stewart, the host of “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central, in a mock presidential debate, “The Rumble in the Air-Conditioned Auditorium,” on Oct. 6, 2012, viewed online by millions of people worldwide.
His current bestsellers total close to 6 million books in print across all formats. “Killing Kennedy,” which became an instant no. 1 bestseller on the Times’s list when it was published in October 2012, has been on the list for 20 weeks with more than 2.4 million copies in print, including eBook and audio editions; “Killing Lincoln” (Sept. 27, 2011) was also an instant no. 1 bestseller on publication and has been at the top of the Times’s best-seller list for 73 weeks with more than 3.2 million copies in print across all formats. The young reader’s edition, “Lincoln’s Last Days,” written with Dwight Jon Zimmerman, (Aug. 27, 2012; Henry Holt for Young Readers), has been on the Times’s Children’s Best Seller list for 25 weeks and has more than 370,000 copies in print across all formats.
Rubin acquired world rights, audio and first serial from Eric Simonoff at William Morris Endeavor. Holt’s editor in chief, Gillian Blake, who edited “Killing Lincoln” and “Killing Kennedy,” will edit “Killing Jesus.”