The religious biopic ‘Muhammad’ directed by Majid Majidi is fast reaching the one billion toman mark ($300,000) at the box office in Iran to set a new record.
Released on August 27, the movie has grossed over $270,000 in just four days, with many cinema halls having extra late-night shows due to the huge number of film fans queuing to see the film.
It has also enjoyed warm reception in Canada, where it had its world premier at the 2015 Montreal World Film Festival, simultaneous with the local release, Mehr News Agency reported.
Opening the festival on August 27, the film had a second showing on the following day and “the festival arranged two extra screenings on Monday (August 31) due to public demand,” said Mohamadreza Saberi, managing director of Nour-Taban Film Industry, producer and distributor of the film, adding that the ticket for both showings were completely sold out.
Majidi’s epic film has been rated 8.9 on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), which allows users to rate films on a scale of one to ten. This is one of the highest ratings for a film, given that the top rating in the list is 9.2.
‘Muhammad’ is the first part of a trilogy on the life of Islam’s holy prophet and recounts the early years of his life in the city of Mecca.
It has collected positive reviews in and outside the country. Prominent Egyptian novelist Ibrahim Abdul Majid in support of the movie said, “It is a precious work for promoting Islam in the West.”
He rejected calls by some Egyptian clerics to ban the movie, stressing that it is not insulting at all but is a positive step for promoting Islam, Akhbarak.net reported. “I cannot see why al-Azhar is opposed” to the film, he said. Some scholars in Egypt, however, have opposed its screening as they say picturing the holy prophet is religiously forbidden. This is while Majidi has reaffirmed time and again that the prophet’s face has not been shown in the movie.
