‘Daniel and the Fiery Furnace’ brings biblical story of faith under pressure to big screen

A new biblical drama is bringing the story of the prophet Daniel to the big screen, depicting his rise in the Babylonian Empire and the faith of three men who chose death rather than bow to a king who demanded they worship him.

“Daniel and the Fiery Furnace” stars Mena Massoud, best known for his role playing Aladdin in the live action version of the film, as Daniel and Elijah Alexander, known for his role playing Atticus in the series “The Chosen,” as King Nebuchadnezzar.

Co-directed and produced by brothers Matthew and Daniel Kooman, “Daniel and the Fiery Furnace" became one of the most successful recent faith-based crowdfunding campaigns. It raised $1.2 million in order to fund its production.

The movie will be released in theaters on Sept. 18.

EWTN News spoke to the stars of the movie and the Kooman brothers about the inspiration behind the film and what they hope audiences will take away from it.

Daniel Kooman explained that the inspiration for the film came from the “timeless relevance of the story.”

“It really felt like coming to it as an origin story of Daniel and his friends being young men at the time of the Jewish exile was something that hadnʼt been…