Acclaimed actors lend voices to Bible audio

Hollywood, meet the Bible.

Zondervan, the Christian publishing giant, is launching the prequel to its critically acclaimed spoken-word Bible, “Inspired By … The Bible Experience.”

The Old Testament version will include a Hollywood cast with three Oscar winners, five Golden Globe winners and seven Emmy winners.

Highlighting the cast is 2007 Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker as the voice of Moses, along with Angela Bassett (Esther), Cuba Gooding Jr. (Jonah), Denzel and Pauletta Washington (Song of Songs), LL Cool J (Samson) and Nick Cannon (Adam).

Like the New Testament version, the Old Testament version is based on Zondervan’s Today’s New International Version Bible translation. It will again feature dramatic performances set to an original musical score and Hollywood-style sound.

It’s scheduled to go on sale in November as both a separate audio edition and part of the 72-CD “Complete Bible” edition.

The New Testament version has sold more than 310,000 copies and has become the best-selling audio Bible.

Its awards include Audiobook of the Year (the highest honor of the Audio Publisher’s Association), an AudioFile Earphones Award and a nomination for an NAACP Image Award.

“Our mission is to introduce innovative projects that engage more people in the Bible, and ‘The Bible Experience’ is doing just that by bringing the Bible to life like never before,” said Paul Caminiti, vice president and publisher of Bibles for Zondervan.