The Young Messiah

The Young Messiah is a 2016 biblical drama film directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh and co-written by Betsy and Cyrus 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 to Nazareth 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. Filming 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." The film was released on March 11, 2016, by Focus Features. Reviews were mixed, and the film proved to be a box office bomb, grossing only $7 million against a budget of $18.5 million.