CNN Wanted Rights To Bill O'Reilly's 'Killing Jesus': New York Post

The National Geographic Channel won the movie rights to Bill O'Reilly's next book, "Killing Jesus." On Tuesday, however, it was reported that CNN had also pursued the rights aggressively.

Sources told The New York Post that CNN president Jeff Zucker bid as much as $2.5 million for the rights to "Killing Jesus," his follow-up book to the bestselling "Killing Lincoln" and "Killing Kennedy." He reportedly found out about the movie from director Ridley Scott, who will be in charge of the project and who is also working on a series for CNN.

National Geographic adapted, and aired "Killing Lincoln" to huge ratings in February. The ratings reportedly spurred a bidding war for the rights to "Killing Jesus."

Pursuing the film is one of Zucker's latest attempts to shake things up at CNN. He is currently revamping the network's programming: he has added Jake Tapper's new show "The Lead" at 4 p.m., and Chris Cuomo is slated to host a new morning show with an unannounced co-host.