BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: This weekend (November 26), the Vatican is hosting the world premiere of THE NATIVITY STORY, a movie from Hollywood's New Line Cinema about the birth of Jesus. The film opens on December 1 in more than 3,000 theaters across the U.S. For years, the Hollywood establishment was accused of neglecting religion. Then Mel Gibson's THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST made more than $600 million, and film studios started searching for more faith-based fare. THE NATIVITY STORY is being heavily promoted to Christians. Kim Lawton has our preview.

VOICE OF MAGI (from THE NATIVITY STORY): "There shall arise a star…"

KIM LAWTON: It was a huge cinematic challenge: how to weave a good tale when everybody already knows the story; how to sustain dramatic interest, without offending the faithful. Screenwriter Mike Rich says what he attempted to do was bring the Christmas figurines on the mantel to life.

MIKE RICH (Screenwriter): Usually when the Nativity story is told, it's told from the standpoint of event: this happened and then this happened and then this happened, and it's rarely looked at from a character standpoint.

LAWTON: Rich, who is an evangelical Christian, tried to stay consistent with the Gospel accounts, but he filled in lots of blanks.

MARY'S FATHER (from THE NATIVITY STORY): "You will go in to his house."

Mr. RICH: There's just not a lot of source material in the Bible. We have a short passage in Matthew, a short passage in Luke, and so, you know, I realized very early on that if I was going to write the script there was going to be a tremendous amount of speculative scenes.

MARY (from THE NATIVITY STORY): "A husband has been chosen for me."

LAWTON: THE NATIVITY STORY is at its most compelling when it explores the reactions and relationships between the main characters. The teenaged Mary is initially reluctant when her family betroths her to Joseph, and she is confused about her miraculous pregnancy.

MARY (from THE NATIVITY STORY): "Elizabeth, why is it me God has asked? I am nothing."

LAWTON: Joseph, who is barely mentioned in the Gospel stories, takes on a leading role in his shock over seeing his fiancé pregnant, knowing he's not the father and realizing the community could react by stoning Mary.

MARY'S MOTHER (from THE NATIVITY STORY): "Women have been put to death for this."

JOSEPH (from THE NATIVITY STORY): "If I claim this child as mine, I will be lying. I will have broken a law laid down by God."

LAWTON: A love story develops between them as they accept the situation and journey a hundred difficult miles to Bethlehem.

MARY (from THE NATIVITY STORY): "Do you ever wonder when we'll know?"

JOSEPH (from THE NATIVITY STORY): "Know what?"

MARY: "When he's more than just a child. Will it be something he says? A look in his eye?"

JOSEPH: "I wonder if I will even be able to teach him anything."