Anne Rice bestseller 'Christ the Lord' movie to release Easter 2016

The film version of Interview with the Vampire author Anne Rice's fictional account of the young Jesus is due out Easter 2016, Deadline.com reports. 

Rice wrote bestselling Christ The Lord: Out of Egypt after her return to the Catholic faith in the late 90s after years of being an atheist.  

It is a fictional imagining of the life of Christ as a young boy as he begins to understand his unique identity and life's mission.  

It's not the first time the book has been earmarked for a film adaptation.  A film version had been in the pipeline in 2007 under producer David Kirkpatrick but the project was cancelled. 

Deadline.com reported back in June 2013 that FilmDistrict had bought the rights to Christ the Lord and that the big screen adaptation was due to hit screens in 2015.

Now more details have emerged and the website is reporting that the film will be out in theaters on 23 March 2016.

Production is due to start in Italy on 15 September, Deadline reports, it will be directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh (The Stoning of Soraya M).  

There is no word on the cast as yet.