DOHA – A Qatari media firm is planning an international movie about the life of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him), in a new effort to remove the widely circulated stereotypes about Islam in the West. “The film will shed light on the Prophet’s life since before his birth until his death,” Ahmed Abdullah Al-Mustafa, chairman of Alnoor Holdings, told the Doha-based Al-Jazeera television Sunday, November 1.

“It will highlight the humanity of Prophet Muhammad.”

The $150-million- blockbuster is set to start in 2011.

“Filming is expected to take between 25 to 30 months,” said Abdullah.

The company has already launched a $200-million international film fund to invest in film projects amid tight financing in the wake of the financial crisis.

Alnoor says talks are underway with studios, talent agencies and distributors in the United States and Britain to choose the movie cast.

“The film will be starred by English-speaking Muslims,” Abdullah told a press conference.

“This movie is aimed to address Muslims and non-Muslims alike to educate them about Islam and the Prophet.”

American Executive Producer Barrie M. Osborne was chosen to produce the movie.

Osborne is known for his Oscar-winning film “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”, for which he received the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Alnoor Holdings was set up this year to take advantage of economic opportunities in the entertainment industry, focusing on international film production, Arabic production and animation.

  Prominent Muslim scholar Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi will be supervising the production of the Prophet movie.

“We have agreed with Sheikh Qaradawi to form a committee to supervise the script, photographing and production of the movie,” said Abdullah.

Sheikh Qaradawi, the chairman of the International Union for Muslim Scholars, hailed the Prophet film.

“This movie aims to serve Islam,” he said.

In 2005, Denmark’s Jyllands-Posten published 12 drawings including portrayals of a man the daily called the Prophet, wearing a bomb-shaped turban and another showing him as a knife-wielding nomad flanked by shrouded women.

The cartoons, considered blasphemous under Islam, triggered mass protests across the world and strained Muslim-West ties.

Following the cartoons crisis, Muslims worldwide have launched know-Prophet campaigns to help remove stereotypes about Islam in the West.

Danish Muslim scholars established the European Committee for Honoring the Prophet, a grouping of 27 Danish Muslim organizations, to raise awareness about the merits and characteristics of the Prophet.

A galaxy of Muslim scholars established an international organization and a fund for defending Prophet Muhammad against defamatory attacks in the West.

IslamOnline launched a multi-lingual website to acquaint non-Muslims with the Prophet.