Producers Mark Burnett ("Survivor", "The Voice", "Shark Tank") and Roma Downey ("Touched By An Angel") felt a divine tug on their hearts to make this series, even if it never made it to tv.  Downey says, "It's really an introduction to the Bible.  We had the hope it would engage people in dialogue, which has happened."

The premiere episode ended up making it on Tv (The History Channel) and also ended up beating out everything on Tv as well with a 13.8 rating.  It was the highest rated Tv show in cable week #1 and hasn't let up for weeks #2 and #3.   

"The Bible" on The History Channel wins the ratings again and is the #1 show on all of television Sunday night with 10.9 million total viewers. In addition, the series garnered 4.2 million Adults 25-54 and 3.5 million Adults 18-49."

They filmed "The Bible" mini-series for 5 months in Morocco near the Sahara desert.  They brought in 40 bible scholars and then got great pastors around the country (T.D. Jakes, Joel Osteen, Rick Warren) to help promote the series to their congregations and social media followings.  

The series was created on just a 22 million budget, which is very small for a 10 hour feature film.  

Some critics have poked fun at the "ninja angels" and some have called it "more action films then spiritual journey", however the ratings tell another story.  
"The Bible" has reached over 68 million viewers since it premiered on March 3* (includes 18 telecasts on The History Channel and Lifetime).