Emmerich reveals fear of fatwa axed 2012 scene
Roland Emmerich, the director of the 'end of days' disaster movie, had wanted to depict the destruction of Islam's holiest site, but was persuaded not to
He blew up the Empire State Building and the White House in Independence Day, sent a giant monster careering through the heart of Manhattan in Godzilla and destroyed the famous Hollywood sign in The Day After Tomorrow. But it seems there are places even Roland Emmerich will not go - the German film-maker has revealed he abandoned plans to obliterate Islam's holiest site on the big screen for fear of attracting a fatwa.
For his latest disaster movie, 2012, the 53-year-old director had wanted to demolish the Kaaba, the iconic cube-shaped structure in the Grand Mosque in Mecca that Muslims the world over turn towards every day when they pray and which they circle seven times during the hajj pilgrimage.
But after some consideration, he decided it might not be such a smart idea, after all.
"I wanted to do that, I have to admit," Emmerich told scifiwire.com. "But my co-writer Harald [Kloser] said I will not have a fatwa on my head because of a movie. And he was right.
"We have to all, in the western world, think about this. You can actually let Christian symbols fall apart, but if you would do this with [an] Arab symbol, you would have ... a fatwa, and that sounds a little bit like what the state of this world is.
"So it's just something which I kind of didn't [think] was [an] important element, anyway, in the film, so I kind of left it out."
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Matrix [and LoTR] producer plans Muhammad biopic
Barrie Osborne, part of the Oscar-winning team behind the Lord of the Rings films, says the new production 'will educate people about the true meaning of Islam'
Producer Barrie Osborne cast Keanu Reeves as the messiah in The Matrix and helped defeat the dark lord Sauron in his record-breaking Lord of the Rings trilogy. Now the Oscar-winning American film-maker is set to embark on his most perilous quest to date: making a big-screen biopic of the prophet Muhammad (saw).
Budgeted at around $150m (£91.5m), the film will chart Muhammad (saw)'s life and examine his teachings. Osborne told Reuters that he envisages it as "an international epic production aimed at bridging cultures. The film will educate people about the true meaning of Islam".
Osborne's production will reportedly feature English-speaking Muslim actors. It is backed by the Qatar-based production company Alnoor Holdings, who have installed the Muslim scholar Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi to oversee all aspects of the shoot. In accordance with Islamic law, the prophet will not actually be depicted on screen.
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"The Message" to be remade
A year old news, but I was not aware of it...
Controversial biopic of Muhammad set for remake
The Message, Moustapha Akkad's Gadafy-backed 1976 film of the life of the prophet that sparked the Hanafi Muslim Siege, is to get a Hollywood remake
It was one of the most controversial films of the 70s: an English-language biopic of the prophet Muhammad ﷺ that was bankrolled by Gadafy and went on to trigger a fatal siege ahead of its US premiere. Now The Message could be set for a grand return to the fray courtesy of a 21st-century Hollywood remake.
Producer Oscar Zoghbi, who worked on the original, today announced that the new version – entitled The Messenger of Peace – was currently being scripted by Ramzi Thomas and would film in locations 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 in a statement. "This latest project will employ modern film techniques in its renewal of the first film's core messages."
"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," added Ramzi Thomas.
Directed in 1976 by the late Moustapha Akkad, The Message starred Anthony Quinn as an Arab follower of Muhammad ﷺ and was funded by the Libyan leader Muammar Gadafy. In accordance with Muslim conventions forbidding any visual depiction of the prophet, Muhammad ﷺ is never seen or heard in the film. Instead, Akkad opted to signify his 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.
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