The Young Messiah is an upcoming American biblical drama film directed by Cyrus Nowrastehand

co-written by Betsy Giffen Nowrasteh and Nowrasteh, based on the novel Christ the Lord: Out of
Egypt by Anne Rice. The film stars Adam Greaves-Neal, Sean Bean, David Bradley, Lee
Boardman, Jonathan Bailey, and David Burke. The film revolves around a fictional interpretation of a
seven-year-old Jesus, who tries to discover the truth about his life when he returns
toNazareth from Egypt.
Nowrasteh acquired the film rights in 2011, and wrote the script along with his wife Betsy
Giffen.Chris Columbus developed the film through his 1492 Pictures banner and helped the film
financing by Ocean Blue Entertainment. FilmDistrict acquired the US distribution rights in 2013,
which were later transferred to Focus Features in 2014. Principal photography began on September
15, 2014 in Matera and Rome, Italy.
Although the film was known throughout production as Christ the Lord, Focus Features announced
on September 1, 2015 that it would now be called The Young Messiah. Nowrasteh said in a press
release, "This new title better conveys how our film seeks to present a realistic portrait of Jesus as a
child both grounded in faith and consistent with the adult Jesus revealed in the Bible." [3]
The film is scheduled to be released domestically on March 11, 2016 by Focus Features.