In January 1956, "Variety" reported that Farrow was in negotiations with RKO Pictures to finance and distribute "Son of Man". Two months later, in March, Farrow began a talent search for an unknown actor to portray Jesus on the condition that he would not appear in another film, television, or stage production for up to 20 years. However, these plans were again postponed when, in October 1957, Farrow had signed on to direct "John Paul Jones" (1959) for Samuel Bronston. A year later, Farrow and Bronston had formed a production company, Brofar, as they planned to produce a second project.