Martin Scorsese to make a movie about Jesus

Martin Scorsese is set to make a film about Jesus.

The legendary film director met with Pope Francis over the weekend on his post-Cannes tour of Italy and confirmed that he has a project in the pipeline about Christ.

Speaking at a conference at the Vatican, Scorsese said: "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."

The filmmaker added: "And I'm about to start making it."

Scorsese, 80, has previously been inspired by religion for his work as he made the 1988 movie 'The Last Temptation of Christ' and 'Silence' about Jesuit Christians in 2016.

The 'Killers of the Flower Moon' director recently lamented how he had "no more time" to make movies due to his advancing years.

Speaking to Deadline, Martin said: "I wish I could take a break for eight weeks and make a film at the same time.

"The whole world has opened up to me, but it's too late. It's too late. I'm old. I read stuff. I see things. I want to tell stories, and there's no more time."

Scorsese teams up with Leonardo DiCaprio for the sixth time in the new Western epic and believes that the 'Titanic' star is a "natural film actor".

He said: "What's great about Leo, and it's why we work together so often, is, he goes there. He goes to these weird places that are so difficult and convoluted, and through the convolution, somehow there's a clarity that we can reach.

"And usually it's in the expression, in his face, in his eyes. I've always told him this. He's a natural film actor."