Hollywood gives it another shot in telling the story of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad and the early days of Islam.

A new film titled “The Messenger of Peace” will go into production soon. Hollywood director Ramsey Thomas, who also directed Boiler Point and Halloween, will write the script for the film and filmmaker Oscar Zoghbi, who also worked on the first Muhammad film, will director and produce.

This will be only the second film on Prophet Muhammad to be made in Hollywood. The first one was Moustapha Akkad’s “The Message”. That film was released in 1977 and financed by Gulf Arab Monarchs. Although the funding of this second is not yet known, it will most likely be also funded by one or more Gulf nations.

Zoghbi stated in an interview that this film will employ move advanced cinematography techniques to gave audiences a more breathtaking view of Arab. And unlike “The Message”, which concentrated mostly on the divisions and conflict of the between the first Muslims and the polytheistic tribes of Mecca, this new film “will focus wholly on the rich values common to all Muslims, like compassion and tolerance.”

In accordance with Islamic law prohibiting the depiction of Prophet Muhammad, the Prophet will not be shown directly in the movie by will, simply, be recognized through his followers.

No release date yet.

Author’s Note: Moustapha Akkad was killed in an Al-Qaeda bombing at a Jordanian hotel in 2005.