The story of Jesus Christ may once again be told on the big screen. This time around, the Son of God will be portrayed as a child as he’s depicted in Anne Rice’s 2005 book Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, which is based on the New Testament Gospels.

According to Variety, Chris Columbus’ 1492 Pictures and CJ Entertainment have acquired the rights to Rice’s book. Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt follows Jesus when he was seven-years-old and tells the story of his return to Nazareth with his family, and how he came to understand who he was and what he was meant to do. Cyrus Nowrasteh (The Stoning of Soraya M) was approached by Rice to take on the project. He wrote the screenplay with Betsy Nowrasteh and has agreed to direct it. Representing 1492 among the producers are Columbus, Michael Barnathan and Mark Radcliffe. Meanwhile, CJ Entertainment’s Sean Lee, Patricia Chun and Keo Lee will also produce.

Columbus says the movie has “the potential to be a cinematic classic,” and expressed pride in being a part of the production. It’s certainly an ambitious project, to say the least and will no doubt require an extremely talented child actor to take on the role of young Jesus. It’ll be interesting to hear news of the casting and whether familiar names and faces will be featured in this movie or if they’ll go with unknowns.