Even as a late contender for the Dumbest Idea Of The Year Award, producer Barrie Osborne is a lock to win. Apparently, eager to squander the goodwill and loads of cash he earned producing “The Matrix” and the LOTR films, Osborne is ready to bring a $150 million biopic about Muhammad to the big screen.
Osborne, intent on compounding an already bad idea, is working with Qatar-based Alnoor Holdings, who have installed the hugely controversial Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradwi to oversee the shoot. Al-Qaradwi, who is banned from entering both the United States and United Kingdom, has a severe hatred of Jews, saying that the Holocaust was Allah’s way of bringing “divine punishment” upon them. Osborne, who is either ignorant of Al-Qaradwi’s views or is extraordinarily naive, says that he envisions the the film as “an international epic production aimed at bridging cultures. The film will educate people about the true meaning of Islam”. Puh-leeze.
The film, which Osborne hopes to get in front of cameras in 2011, will feature English-speaking, Muslim actors, and to keep in accordance with Islamic law, will not actually depict the prophet on screen. If Osborne can pull this off, the project will be the first biopic in history where the subject is never seen on screen. Good luck to him.
Oddly enough, this isn’t the only film about Muhammad in some stage of development. Producer Oscar Zoghbi (we use that term lightly, his only credits on IMDB come as a crew member on two late ’80s “Halloween” sequels) is working on a remake of the 1976 film “The Message” which starred Anthony Quinn. His remake is called “The Messenger Of Peace” and we’re sure we can safely say it’s currently earning zero interest in Hollywood.
We can’t imagine any major studio committing any kind of money to either of these films, though there is probably plenty of money and interest available in the Islamic world. However, even with funding, we can imagine both moderate-to-hardline Islamic groups and Jewish organizations will be scrutinizing these pictures to the point where, hopefully, the producers will realize what a colossally, horrible idea they are.
And who says no one wants to take a risk in today’s cinematic climate?