‘Harry Potter’ director to produce film on Christ

Washington: Director Chris Columbus of ‘Harry Potter’ fame is planning to produce a film about the life and times of the young Jesus Christ.

Columbus’s 1492 Pictures along with CJ Entertainment has acquired the movie rights to ‘Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt’ by Anne Rice, author of ‘Interview with the Vampire’. According to Variety, the book conveys the story of Christ at age seven as he leaves Egypt with his family to return to Nazareth and learn about his purpose in life. Rice had handpicked filmmaker Cyrus Nowrasteh to direct the onscreen version of her book; having seen his critically acclaimed film ‘The Stoning of Soraya M,’ while his wife, Betsy Nowrasteh, will pen the screenplay. Columbus, who directed the first two ‘Harry Potter’ films and produced the first three, said that his latest project had the “potential to be a cinematic classic”. “This film has the potential to be a cinematic classic, a picture that will appeal to all ages, all around the world,” Fox News quoted Columbus as saying. ANI