Peter Barsocchini Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Christmas comes early this year, as “Journey to Bethlehem” puts words (and music) in the mouths of all who bore witness to Jesus’ birth. Some of those tunes — like “Silent Night” and “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” — will sound familiar enough, though most of the songs — like most of the script — represents a fresh interpretation of believers’ original miracle, courtesy of Adam Anders, making a competent, if undistinguished directorial debut with the least edgy retelling of the nativity story around (which is essentially what the faith-based audience has been asking for).

Naman Ramachandran Sony Pictures’ faith-focused label Affirm Films and Monarch Media have set a release date and launched a trailer for Christmas musical film “Journey to Bethlehem.” The film marks the feature directorial debut of Adam Anders, who was a music producer on “Glee.” A retelling of the the story of Mary and Joseph and the birth of Jesus, the film is a live-action Christmas musical weaving classic Christmas melodies with humor, faith and new pop songs. The cast includes Fiona Palomo (“Outer Banks”) as Mary, Milo Manheim (“Prom Pact”) as Joseph, Antonio Banderas (“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”) as Herod, Stephanie Gil (“Fatima”), Rizwan Manji (“Schitt’s Creek”), Geno Segers (“Perfect Harmony”), Omid Djalili (“Gladiator”), Joel Smallbone and Lecrae.

EXCLUSIVE: Fiona Palomo is Mary, Milo Manheim is Joseph and Oscar nominee Antonio Banderas is King Herod in Sony Affirm’s upcoming untitled holiday musical centered around the Nativity.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentViacomCBS International Studios (VIS) has unveiled a new slate of projects tapping talents as diverse as “Guilt” writer-creator Neil Forsyth, “The Great” writer Vanessa Alexander, “Wild District” originator Cristian Conti and “High School Musical” writer Peter Barsocchini.Underscoring VIS’ ambitions to play in the big league of international local content producer-distributors, both in production volume and breadth of content, VIS also confirmed