The producer of The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix, Barrie Osborne, is planning an epic film about the Prophet Muhammad, a film made in English and carrying a US $150 million budget.

The idea of the film would be for a worldwide audience, and talks are already happening with American and British talent and distributors, so the scope is much larger than one might think with such a film.

Wikipedia has the description of the Prophet Muhammad, and a full article there contains everything you would need to know about their history. Here's the opening paragraph:

Prophet Muhammad is the founder of the religion of Islam and is regarded by Muslims as a messenger and prophet of God, the last and the greatest law-bearer in a series of Islamic prophets as taught by the Qur'an 33:40–40. Muslims thus consider him the restorer of the uncorrupted original monotheistic faith (islam) of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and other prophets. He was also active as a diplomat, merchant, philosopher, orator, legislator, reformer, military general, and, according to Muslim belief, an agent of divine action.

Barrie Osborne has been speaking about the plans for the project and he reveals just what they have in store for the film:

"The film will educate people about the true meaning of Islam…"

Speaking through Reuters and Yahoo News he goes on to say that the film will be an…

"…international epic production aimed at bridging cultures."

Apparently they are seeking international talent for the cast, although it's clear that the Prophet Muhammad would not be shown as Islamic rules would not allow. First though they have to get a studio and distribution deals agreed, and that's ongoing with companies in all three areas being talked to in the U.S. and Britain.

Backing Osborne and the film are Qatari media company Alnoor Holdings who are looking to buy distributors, sales agents and maybe even post-production and production facilities throughout the U.S. and Britain to build up it's own media capabilities.

It does sound a huge first step for them bringing such a culturally important film to the fore of a worldwide audience, and it's something that could work, after all it's carrying a producer well known for delivering huge epic films. The question is will it achieve the aim of bridging cultures? Will it indeed bring different groups together?