Madison West High School graduate Cyrus Nowrasteh is reported to be collaborating with novelist Anne Rice to bring to the silver screen her novel, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, a story of the boyhood of Jesus Christ.
Nowrasteh is known for controversial productions: The Day Reagan Was Shot on Showtime was accused of liberal bias by conservatives and his ABC/Disney miniseries The Path to 9/11 was attacked for conservative bias. His 2008 drama The Stoning of Soraya M was widely acclaimed and it was that production that got the attention of Anne Rice.
Rice gave the movie a rave review and asked her agent to find out who made it, according to an article on the Big Hollywood website. Nowrasteh, his wife Betsy, and Rice have collaborated on the screen play and the film is currently in pre-production. “It’s a work of informed fiction,” Nowrasteh said. “We want this movie to appeal to as abroad an audience as possible … it’s a beautiful story told with a great sort of understanding of the times and the period.”
Anne Rice, of course, is a highly popular writer known for her vampire novels. In 2004, following a narrow escape from serious health problems Rice publicly returned to the Roman Catholic church of her childhood. She than began a series of novels on the life of Christ, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt (2005) and Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana (2008) are the two publilshed so far. Rice subsequently announced she was distancing herself from the church and Christianity, but remained committed to Christ.