The subscription streaming service owned and operated by Fox News Media announced Wednesday that it has signed the Oscar-winning director to produce and host an eight-episode faith-based docudrama series.
“Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints” will premiere in November. Each episode will focuses on an individual saint: Joan of Arc, Francis of Assisi, John the Baptist, Thomas Becket, Mary Magdalene, Moses the Black, Sebastian and Maximilian Kolbe .
Scorsese, whose Catholic background has played into many of his films, is the latest high-profile Hollywood figure to sign on as program provider for Fox Nation, launched in 2018 as a streaming adjunct to the Rupert Murdoch family-controlled conservative news network.
Last year Kevin Costner hosted a documentary series tied to the 150th anniversary of Yellowstone National Park. Rob Lowe fronted a docudrama series on the Boston Tea Party. The platform acquired a series about Texas, called “Deep In the Heart,” from actor Matthew McConaughey, that debuts later this spring.
Fox Nation, which currently has 2 million paid subscribers, has evolved into a lifestyle programming service, with documentary series and scripted programming concerning subject matter that appeals to more traditional-minded viewers.
While Fox Nation offers replays of a few Fox News opinion programs, the platform has moved away from hard-core political content such as a past series from former host Tucker Carlson that suggested the federal government was involved in instigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on the Capitol.
Under Jason Klarman, Fox News Media’s chief digital and marketing officer, Fox Nation content is focused more on religion, Americana and true crime (the platform launched a Menendez brothers documentary series on Monday).
“I’ve lived with the stories of the saints for most of my life, thinking about their words and actions, imagining the worlds they inhabited, the choices they faced, the examples they set,” Scorsese said in a statement.
Scorsese developed the series for Lionsgate Alternative Television. The docudrama is created by Matti Leshem, written by Scorsese collaborator Kent Jones and directed by Elizabeth Chomko.