Hollywood Film on Prophet's Life Set for Remake

It was one of the most controversial films of the 1970s: an English-language biopic of the prophet Muhammad that was bankrolled by Libyan leader Muammar Gadafy and went on to trigger a fatal siege ahead of its US premiere.

Now The Message could be scheduled for a grand return to the fray courtesy of a remake.

Oscar Zoghbi, a producer who worked on the 1976 original, has announced that a new version is to be filmed around the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

"We have only the utmost respect for [the original film] but technology in cinema has advanced since the 1970s," Zoghbi said yesterday. "This latest project will employ modern film techniques in its renewal of the first film's core messages."

The new film, The Messenger of Peace, is being scripted by Ramzi Thomas, whose credits include Some Call it Loving, Halloween 5 and Appointment with Fear. Thomas said: "In the 21st century there is a real need for a film that emotionally engages audiences on the journey that led to the birth of Islam."

A spokesman for the producers suggested to Reuters that the film's funding and production schedule had yet to be finalized, promising that details would be announced "in due course".

The Message prompted controversy in the US when it was rumored that Anthony Quinn was starring as Muhammad. In March 1977, a dozen Muslims stormed three civic buildings in Washington, taking 149 people hostage and demanding the film be destroyed. The now notorious Hanafi Muslim Siege resulted in the deaths of a police officer and a radio reporter, while council member, and future mayor, Marion Barry was wounded by a shotgun pellet. The hostages were eventually released after a 39-hour standoff.

While the Qur'an does not explicitly forbid images of Muhammad there are some that discourage the visual representation of any living creature. The concern about depicting Muhammad is that it will lead to idolatry, which is forbidden in Islam.

Most Muslims follow convention and avoid images of the prophet and choosing an actor to play him could be problematic, so would filming in Mecca and Medina. Both cities are strictly off-limits for non-Muslims, so all the cast and crew would have to be Muslim, and the project would need approval from the Saudi government.

The 1976 film, starring Quinn as an Arab follower of Muhammad, was funded by Gadafy. The prophet is not seen or heard in the film. Instead the director, Syrian-born Moustapha Akkad, signified Muhammad's presence with light organ music and occasionally framed the film from the prophet's point of view as he observed the actions of his followers. Two versions of the picture were shot, one in Arabic and the other in English.

Speaking at the time, Akkad claimed he made The Message because he wanted to explain Islam to a western audience. "I think there was something personal, being Muslim myself who lived in the west, I felt that it was my obligation, my duty, to tell the truth about Islam," he said.

Portraits of key Islamic figures have prompted protests around the world and the film is likely to renew debate about freedom of expression and self-censorship. Random House recently canceled the publication of The Jewel of Medina, a book about one of Muhammad's wives, after fears that it would offend Muslims. It was also pulled in the UK, when the publisher's London home was firebombed.