Muhammad movie?

LORD OF THE RINGS and MATRIX producer Barrie Osbourne thinks it’s time that the world got to know the good prophet Muhammad a little better. That’s why he’s going ahead with a $150M biopic of the man meant to “educate people about the true meaning of Islam.”

Now, that’s all well and good, as religious leaders from Buddha to Jesus have all gotten their own feature films at some point, and Islam has been dragged through the mud a bit in recent years, but as I recall, isn’t there just a wee bit of a problem with this movie since Islamic law forbids images of Muhammad to exist? Yeahhh…

Osborne’s production will reportedly feature English-speaking Muslim actors. It is backed by the Qatar-based production company Alnoor Holdings, who have installed the Muslim scholar Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi to oversee all aspects of the shoot. In accordance with Islamic law, the prophet will not actually be depicted on screen.

“The film will shed light on the Prophet’s life since before his birth to his death,” Ahmed Abdullah Al-Mustafa, Alnoor’s chairman, told al-Jazeera. “It will highlight the humanity of Prophet Muhammad.”

It’s going to be pretty damn hard to highlight someone’s humanity when they’re not even allowed to be shown onscreen because they’re too holy, don’t you think? But I can’t wait to see how a Muhammad-less Muhammad movie actually comes to pass and just how much controversy it spawns. Good times all around I’m sure.