BACK TO THE FUTURE meets LIFE OF BRIAN in a comedy The Black List evaluators called, "incredibly creative," "comedy like the teams behind THE SIMPSONS manage to execute," and "consistently clever and compelling."
SKYLER "SKY" WALKER will do anything to become the most famous astronaut in the universe, even if it means doing something underhanded. When his mission is canceled and his hopes are dashed, he returns home to Vegas where he was raised by his parents, illusionists who died three years earlier in a plane crash.
He accepts an appearance gig at the Future Electronics Show. While there, his pocket is picked by a cosplay Jesus. Sky chases him, stumbles into a time machine, and is transported to 33 A.D. Nazareth, where he attacks the real JESUS, mistaking him for the pickpocket. He eventually realizes what happened and now believes time travel will make him the most famous person in the universe.
He once again encounters Jesus and accidentally teaches him how to say, "shit." He later teaches Jesus the ritual of saying grace at meals. Things just get weirder and more complicated for Sky from there. He realizes the day Jesus was crucified is approaching. Also, Jesus is not like the man we know. He's not the miracle-working son of God but rather the normally-conceived son of MARY and JOSEPH ROSENBERG. And he has an older sister, RACHEL, who Sky instantly has the hots for.
Jesus takes Sky to meet his stoner friends--who we know as the APOSTLES--but they are really just a bunch of Jesus fanboys who are publishing a series of comic books about a superhero named Jesus, or what history will come to know as The Bible. On the way there, Jesus spots his lover, JULIA, and her father, PONTIUS PILATE, who doesn't really want to kill Jesus. He just wants him to stay away from his daughter. It's JUDAS and CAIAPHAS who want Jesus dead because all the women in Nazareth lust for him. But that's not sufficient cause.
Sky and Jesus share a few adventures (like feeding hungry pilgrims fishes and loaves) and soon become friends, which makes Sky want to save Jesus. He tells Jesus he's from the future and takes him to see the time machine to prove it. But it's gone! Things go from bad to worse from there.
Judas has the time machine. Jesus becomes unnerved when people begin believing what they're reading in the comic books. And Sky realizes that he can't save Jesus because his parents met and conceived him at a Christmas party. But there won't be Christmas if Jesus isn't crucified. And if that happens, Sky won't exist. He and Jesus have a major falling out and almost come to blows. Jesus says he never wants to see Sky again.
Judas finds an issue of the comic book where Jesus proclaims to be the son of God. He takes it to Caiaphas. They now have sufficient cause to crucify Jesus. Pilate, Judas and ROMAN SOLDIERS attempt to arrest Jesus. Mary, Joseph, Rachel and the Apostles show up just in time. Sky also arrives to save his friend. A fight breaks out and Sky saves Jesus from being stabbed to death by Judas, who hits Rachel when she comes to Jesus' aid. An incensed Pilate has Judas taken away. Caiaphas shows up, orders Pilate to crucify Jesus, the leaves.
A changed Pilate has no intention of killing his future son-in-law. But Jesus says he must do it so that Christianity and his friend Sky can exist. Sky won't let that happen. He's willing to sacrifice his life for Jesus. Sky then realizes no one needs to die because he can use illusionist tricks he learned from his parents to make it look like Jesus was crucified then rose from the dead. So, with the help of the Apostles, a lot of wood, and the time machine, Sky and Jesus stage the Crucifixion and Ascension of Jesus.
Jesus (and a tucked away Julia) leave in the time machine. Sky stays behind with Rachel to start a new life together. And the Apostles continue to spread the good word.
In a twist ending, Jesus and Julia arrive at an airfield in the future...right before Sky's parents board that plane.
