The Young Messiah
Synopsis: The Young Messiah is a 2016 biblical drama film that tells the story of Jesus Christ at the age of seven, as he and his family depart Egypt to return home to Nazareth. The film is based on Anne Rice’s novel “Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt” and explores Jesus’ childhood, his natural curiosity, and his growing understanding of his gifts and identity.
GENRE: CMM (Christian Multi-Media) Film Fiction
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INFO: The Young Messiah
Synopsis: The Young Messiah is a 2016 biblical drama film that tells the story of Jesus Christ at the age of seven, as he and his family depart Egypt to return home to Nazareth. The film is based on Anne Rice’s novel “Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt” and explores Jesus’ childhood, his natural curiosity, and his growing understanding of his gifts and identity.
Key Points:
The film follows Jesus, played by Adam Greaves-Neal, as he and his family, including Mary (Sara Lazzaro) and Joseph (Vincent Walsh), journey from Egypt to Nazareth.
Along the way, they are pursued by a Roman centurion, played by Sean Bean, who seeks to kill Jesus.
The story takes creative liberties with the biblical account, focusing on Jesus’ childhood and his questions about himself and his purpose.
The film features a blend of drama, action, and suspense, as Jesus and his family navigate the dangers of their journey and confront the truth about their son’s extraordinary gifts.
Reception: The Young Messiah received mixed reviews from critics, with some praising its unique take on Jesus’ childhood and others criticizing its deviations from biblical accounts. The film holds a 38% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 5.6/10.
Awards and Nominations: The film did not receive any major awards or nominations.
Availability: The Young Messiah is available to stream on Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video, and can be purchased on DVD and Blu-ray.
Overall: The Young Messiah is a thought-provoking and visually stunning film that offers a fresh perspective on Jesus’ childhood. While it may not be entirely faithful to biblical accounts, it provides a compelling and imaginative exploration of Jesus’ early years.
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Here’s Why Making The Young Messiah Was ‘Fraught With Peril’
5 minute read
Updated: March 16, 2016 2:30 PM [ET] | Originally published: March 11, 2016 1:53 PM EST;
Correction appended, March 16
It’s not quite a miracle, but you don’t often see a movie and its prequel playing theaters at the same time. Still, that would appear to be the case in this, the season of faith-based cinema: Risen, a nonbeliever’s-eye view of the first Easter, arrived last month. Now, hot on its sandaled heels, The Young Messiah presents an episode out of the so-called “lost years” in the life of Christ.
One hesitates to use the term “branded content” in regards a Jesus movie, but the mania for movie prequels is all about elaborating on existing popularity and name recognition—consider recent examples like Pan and Minions. But The Young Messiah is in a class by itself: Based on Anne Rice’s 2005 novel Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, it spins an entirely new narrative, replete with Satan and miracles, within a sliver of the biblically unaccounted-for time between the Nativity stories and the 12-year-old Jesus’ visit to Jerusalem at Passover (Luke 2:41-52).
It’s also very careful not to tread on any Christian dogma: Jesus’ brother James, for instance, whose kinship to Jesus has been interpreted by theologians in various ways, is portrayed as a sibling, but is also called a cousin, and in any event is described as “adopted,” lest anyone think The Young Messiah was arguing with the doctrinal tradition of the virgin birth. Elsewhere, Satan throws an apple in the path of a running child; the 7-year-old Jesus raises him from the dead.
'The Young Messiah' Official Trailer #1
The Jesus tradition in motion pictures began in the silent era (most likely with Edison’s The Passion Play of Oberammergau of 1898) and most of the treatments have been done with enormous respect, both for the subject and the feelings of believers, for whom anything less than adoration can seem an incitement to riot. If this sounds like overstatement, consider Martin Scorsese’s Last Temptation of Christ, with its deeply conflicted Messiah and his dreams of sex with Mary Magdalene—when it played in Paris in 1988, the cinematheque was firebombed.
Director Cyrus Nowrasteh, who wrote the screen adaptation of The Young Messiah with his wife, Betsy, agrees that wading into the holy waters of the Jesus story was “fraught with peril.”
“But I’ve had other projects I’ve been condemned for,” he says, referring to The Stoning of Soraya M. (2008) and The Path to 9/11 (2006), both of which drew criticism for alleged misrepresentations of fact. “So I’m kind of used to that territory. Someone said to me that we were going ‘where angels fear to tread,’ but that, to me, was what was exciting about it. I felt if we do it right, people will recognize that and it will attract a lot of interest.”
That seems certain: When a movie with an even vaguely religious theme is released, the faithful flock. The Passion of the Christ, of course, created extraordinary interest when it was released in 2004. More recently, the 2013 TV miniseries The Bible earned enormous ratings. Noah—which even its distributor, Paramount, seemed to run way from—wound up doing unholy business. Son of God, a 2014 release, made $70M worldwide and Killing Jesus, last year’s critically eviscerated TV movie based on Bill O’Reilly’s book, broke NatGeo viewership records.
What The Young Messiah aims to do may have antecedents in the roots of early Christianity — for example, the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, which created its own narrative of Jesus’ life as a boy.
“It is a quite ancient text—second or third century,” says the Rev. John W. Martens, professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas. “But it exists in many manuscript traditions. It was clearly not seen as ‘historical,’ but it desired to fill in the gaps, for reasons which scholars today are still trying to ascertain—was it for entertainment? Edification? Curiosity?”
What intrigued the faithful back then may do the same today.
“People said I’d get a lot of resistance, lot of pushback, that we were going to have nothing but problems. And it hasn’t happened,” says Nowrasteh, a Christian who grew up in a secular Muslim home and has been baptized in the Presbyterian Church. “We’ve been screening across the country for religious influencers and [have] gotten a list of endorsement that would be the envy of any faith-based movie.”
It’s not as if he isn’t playing to a tough crowd: At one screening, Nowrasteh says, a viewer took exception to a scene set in Jerusalem, in which a Roman confronts the young Jesus, who is being sought by King Herod for execution; a fellow Jew covers for the child, claiming he’s mute. Jesus doesn’t say a thing.
“Someone got up and said, ‘You’ve got Jesus complicit in a lie,’” says Nowrasteh, “and someone else got up and said, ‘No, they’re foreshadowing that Jesus will always stand mute before his accusers.’ I thought that was great.
“There are a lot of good answers for some of the questions raised in the film,” he said. “And usually they’re provided by someone else in the audience.”
Correction: The original version of this story incorrectly described the publication genre for the book Killing Jesus.
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EXTRAS
Behind the Scenes | The Young Messiah | Now Playing
THE YOUNG MESSIAH - 'Parenting' Featurette - In Theaters March 11
Source: https://www.youtube.com/@theyoungmessiah7251
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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.[1] 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."[6]
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.
Plot
[edit]
Seven-year-old Jesus is playing in Alexandria with his cousins when the bully Eliezer beats Jesus and then turns to his female cousin. Satan throws an apple before Eliezer and he falls to his death. Satan turns the crowd against Jesus and they accuse him of cursing Eliezer. His mother Mary saves him from the mob but as he and his cousins hide in the house they ask Jesus to repeat with Eliezer the act he showed them previously: bringing a dead bird to life.
Jesus sneaks out of the house and into Eliezer's home where preparations are being made for his disemboweling and burial. When Jesus resurrects Eliezer, the boy resumes beating Jesus. Eliezer's parents ask Joseph, Jesus and Mary to leave Alexandria saying "Seven years is more than enough".
Joseph tells Mary and his extended family that he had a dream and it is time to return to Israel because Herod the Great is dead. Mary insists on returning to Nazareth instead of Bethlehem. The family departs.
On the road to Nazareth, Jesus's uncle Cleopas is growing more unwell, coughing; Jesus says he cannot heal him because he has been asked not to. As the family rests Jesus walks into an ambush of rebel Jews waiting for a passing Roman cavalry. One of the rebels tries to shoo Jesus away. This rebel pushes Jesus out of harm's way and sacrifices his own life. One of the Centurions saves Jesus from one of the Roman soldiers.
Jesus runs back to his family to find Cleopas delirious by the river Jordan. Jesus cannot resist and moves to heal him. The news spreads and reaches the new Jewish King who orders his Roman Centurion to find the boy healer and execute him.
Jesus and the family encounter a man raping a woman by the roadside. The lady knifes the attacker and kills him. Joseph and Cleopas bury the rapist, and the victim joins the family on their road to Nazareth. They see crucifixions of Jewish rebels.
In Nazareth, Roman soldiers accuse them of banditry and rebellion. Grandmother Sarah shares sweet cakes and good wine with the soldiers. The soldiers spare Joseph and the extended clan.
The centurion returns to Herod Archelaus in the middle of a belly dancing entertainment. He informs the Centurion that he just crucified a man who told him about the return of Jesus, who has a gift camel.
Jesus is taken to Temple for schooling. He amazes the rabbis with his wisdom and knowledge, but Jesus faints on the way back. Satan torments Jesus as he lies unwell and tells him that his little miracles will mean nothing.
Jesus is restored to health and he asks to visit Jerusalem for Passover. The centurions track Jesus to Sarah's house in Nazareth but they have already departed for Jerusalem. The soldiers extract information about the boy's name. The soldiers intercept the travelers on the road but the family hides in the caves.
Jesus leaves the cave alone in the middle of the night for Jerusalem asking God for guidance and safety. Jesus enters Jerusalem; his parents follow looking for him. Jesus is given some coins by well-meaning pilgrims and he uses the coins to free a sacrificial dove. Jesus finds a blind rabbi and asks about what happened seven years ago in Bethlehem. Satan guides the Centurions to the boy by the rabbi. The rabbi is healed by Jesus.
The centurion corners Jesus and the people in the temple gather around Jesus identifying him as the boy who healed the rabbi. Centurion Severus desists from killing the boy and asks them to leave the temple.
Severus falsely reports to Herod that Jesus was murdered by him. Mary tells Jesus the answers to all the questions he was looking for. Jesus runs to his family.
Cast
[edit]
Adam Greaves-Neal as Jesus
Sara Lazzaro as Mary
Vincent Walsh as Joseph
Christian McKay as Cleopas (Clopas)
Rory Keenan as Satan
Sean Bean as Severus
David Bradley as an old rabbi of Nazareth
Jane Lapotaire as Sarah
Clive Russell as Weer
Lee Boardman as a Roman squad leader
David Burke as a blind rabbi
Agni Scott as Miriam
Paul Ireland as an optio
Finn McLeod-Ireland as James
Isabelle Adriani as Seleni
Production
[edit]
Principal photography began on location on September 15, 2014, in Matera, Italy.[7] Shooting also took place in Rome at Cinecittà studios.[8][9]
According to director Cyrus Nowrasteh, James and Salome, referred in the Bible as Jesus' brother and sister, are portrayed as his cousins. Nowrasteh said that the idea is that they had "sort of been adopted... they all referred to one another as brother and sister in those times." The filmmakers had cross-denominational support for the film's production, and received positive feedback from evangelicals and Catholics alike. Nowrasteh's wife Betsy helped rewrite two scenes taken from the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thomas in order to bring them more into line with the Gospels.[10]
The film was recognized by Time as introducing "a new class in the world of Jesus narratives". According to the director, "it wasn't easy material to tackle".[1]
Music
[edit]
Main article: The Young Messiah (soundtrack)
On January 17, 2013, John Debney was hired to compose the music for the film.[11]
Release
[edit]
The film was previously set for March 23, 2016, release,[12] but on January 15, 2015, Focus Features moved the release up to March 11, 2016.[13] On December 22, 2015, a sneak peek video clip was released on the movie's website. The film met the qualification criteria for the 89th Academy Awards.[14]
Distribution
[edit]
On June 21, 2013, it was announced that FilmDistrict had acquired the US distribution rights to the film and planned to release the film in March 2015. The film was then being developed and financed by Rise Entertainment, under a five-year deal inked between Rise and 1492 Pictures.[15] 1492 Pictures, Hyde Park Entertainment, CJ Entertainment, and Ocean Blue Entertainment would produce the film, and Hyde Park would handle the international sales for the film.[15] Producers would be Columbus, Barnathan, and Radcliffe for 1492, Tracy K. Price for Ocean Blue, Ashok Amritraj for Hyde Park, and Mark W. Shaw for CJ.[15]
On May 16, 2014, it was reported again that Ocean Blue would finance the film along with CJ, Echo Lake Productions, and Ingenious Media, while 1492 Pictures would produce the film along with Ocean Blue, CJ, Hyde Park and Ingenious.[7] Focus Features acquired the US rights from FilmDistrict, and set the film to begin production in September 2014.[7]
Reception
[edit]
Box office
[edit]
In the United States and Canada, the film opened on March 11, 2016, alongside 10 Cloverfield Lane, The Brothers Grimbsy and The Perfect Match. It was originally projected to gross $7–8 million in its opening weekend, however after grossing just $1.4 million on its opening day, estimates were lowered to $3–4 million.[4] It ended up grossing $3.3 million in its opening weekend, finishing 7th at the box office.[16]
Critical response
[edit]
![[icon]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kB5n!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe5840062-7ec5-4cc8-a824-aea9120aaced_20x15.png "[icon]")
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2016)
The film has gathered mixed critical responses. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 50%, based on 38 reviews, with an average rating of 5.60/10.[17] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 33 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[18] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[3]
Steven D. Greydanus reviewed The Young Messiah for the National Catholic Register, saying it was smartly adapted by Cyrus and Betsy Nowrasteh. Greydanus said he could imagine watching the film with a mixed group of people of faith and no faith while holding everyone's interest. He says this project could have turned into "the greatest imaginable act of authorial hubris and irrelevance", except that the filmmakers found an elegant solution in drawing on both the Gospels and the apocryphal Gospels, while reworking all the material to bring it into conformance with right beliefs among Christians. Greydanus says that "The Young Messiah offers an imaginative vision of the most iconic and celebrated family in human history that is both surprising and familiar, warmly human and credible yet also different."[19]
Accolades
[edit]
MovieGuide awarded the film the Epiphany Prize® for Inspiring Movies as well as the Grace Award in the Actor category, presented to Adam Greaves-Neal.[20]
References
[edit]
^ a b c John Anderson (March 11, 2016). "Here's Why Making The Young Messiah Was 'Fraught With Peril'". Time. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
^ "AMC Theatres: The Young Messiah". AMC Theatres. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
^ a b "Audiences Booking Trips To 'Zootopia' & '10 Cloverfield Lane'". deadline.com. March 15, 2016.
^ a b Scott Mendelson (March 12, 2016). "Friday Box Office: '10 Cloverfield Lane' Adds $9M To Its Mystery Box, 'Brothers Grimsby' Bombs". Forbes. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
^ "The Young Messiah (2016)". The Numbers. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
^ Chattaway, Peter T. (September 1, 2015). "First look: The Young Messiah, based on Anne Rice's Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt. (And yes, the film has a new title.)". patheos.com. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
^ a b c Fleming, Mike Jr. (May 16, 2014). "Cannes: 'Christ The Lord' Gets Green Light". deadline.com. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
^ Vivarelli, Nick (November 24, 2014). "Rome's Cinecitta Studios Lures 'Ben Hur' Redo And Other Hollywood Pics". variety.com. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
^ "International Films Production Back in Rome with James Bond Along the Tiber in March". buzzinrome.com. January 12, 2015. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
^ "Interview: 'The Young Messiah' Filmmaker Cyrus Nowrasteh". February 26, 2016.
^ "John Debney to Score 'Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt'". filmmusicreporter.com. January 17, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
^ McClintock, Pamela (July 24, 2014). "Jesus Movie 'Christ the Lord' to Hit Theaters on Easter Eve 2016". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
^ "Focus Moves 'Christ The Lord' Out Of 'Batman V Superman' Weekend". deadline.com. January 15, 2015. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
^ a b c "FilmDistrict Buys 'Christ The Lord' Pic Based On Anne Rice Novel For 2015 Bow". deadline.com. June 21, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
^ "'Zootopia' Turnstiles Still Spinning, But '10 Cloverfield Lane' Also A Hot Destination – Box Office Preview". deadline.com. March 9, 2016.
^ "The Young Messiah (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
^ "The Young Messiah reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
^ "SDG Reviews 'The Young Messiah'". March 9, 2016.
^ "Winners Archives". Movieguide® Awards. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
External links
[edit]
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Young_Messiah
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BOOK | Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt
Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt (2005) is a book by American writer Anne Rice, which depicts the life of Jesus Christ at the age of 7 to 8. Rice wrote the novel after returning to the Catholic Church in 1998.
Plot
[edit]
This article needs a plot summary. Please add one in your own words. (July 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Reviews
[edit]
Beliefnet named Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt its 2005 Book of the Year on the basis of its "creativity, its unique spin on one of the world's most important religious figures, and for its impact on Christians and other readers".[1] Janet Maslin of The New York Times said "The restraint and prayerful beauty of Christ the Lord is apt to surprise Rice's normal readers and attract new ones".[2] Lev Grossman of Time said "This is in fact an intensely literal historical, reverent treatment of a year in the life of Jesus, written in simple, sedate language".[3]
Film
[edit]
Main article: The Young Messiah (film)
A film based on the book was scheduled to start shooting in October 2007 in Israel,[4] produced by David Kirkpatrick, co-founder of Good News Holdings. The production company hoped to release the film in the Fall of 2008.[5] However, the project was cancelled due to "creative differences".[6]
Rice announced that a new development for a film adaptation, The Young Messiah, was underway. It was being written and directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh. FilmDistrict at first acquired the U.S. distribution rights, but distribution shifted to Focus Features.[7] According to Rice, production was slated to begin in Fall 2014 in Rome, Italy, with the film's tentative release date set for March 23, 2016.[8]
Production commenced on September 11, 2014, in Matera, Italy, and concluded sometime before November. The film was released in the U.S. on March 11, 2016.
Follow-up books
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The second book in the series, The Road to Cana, was published in 2008.
While answering questions at the 2012 New York Comic-Con, Rice confirmed that she had no intention of developing a third book due to the potential controversy it might generate.[6][9]
References
[edit]
^ Maslin, Janet (3 November 2005). "A Boy Tells of Angels, Bethlehem and Family". The New York Times.
^ "Archived copy". waterbrookmultnomah.com. Archived from the original on 24 February 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
^ "The Young Messiah". 11 March 2016 – via IMDb.
^ The Passion of the Rice - IGN
^ a b Out of Egypt Scrapped - Christianity Today Movies
^ Team, The Deadline (21 June 2013). "FilmDistrict Buys 'Christ The Lord' Pic Based On Anne Rice Novel For 2015 Bow".
^ "Jesus Movie 'Christ the Lord' to Hit Theaters on Easter Eve 2016". The Hollywood Reporter. 24 July 2014.
^ Joel Rivera (16 October 2012). "Ann Rice Panel from New York Comic Con 2012". Archived from the original on 2021-12-21 – via YouTube.
External links
[edit]
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_the_Lord:_Out_of_Egypt
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