The Rite Stuff at the box office? New Line is hoping its PG-rated story of exorcists battling the devil will pull gross somewhere in the high teens (as in millions of dollars) this weekend. The movie, based on a book about a real-life exorcist, is receiving praise for treating treating faith with respect and priests as actual heroes.
IMHO: I think its great for a movie to treat faith with respect and portray priests in a positive light but I’d rather see more positive Christian movies that don’t involve the devil. Here are three books Hollywood might want to look at: 

CROSSBEARER: A MEMOIR OF FAITH by Joe Eszterhas (St. Martin’s Press)

This compelling auto-biography tells the story of how Eszterhas, the author of erotic movies like Basic Instinct and Showgirls found
God and the strength to give up his addictions to alcohol and tobacco
— and to survive a horrendous battle with throat cancer.  Considering how
much he was paid for those previous works, you would think Hollywood studios would be lining up to produce this one.

UNLIKELY ANGEL: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE ATLANTA HOSTAGE HERO by Ashley Smith (Zondervan/Harper Collins)
This one’s the Apollo 13 of our day in that the actual facts of the story require virtually no writer embellishment. You no doubt remember the story of the Atlanta woman who in 2005  was taken hostage by a fugitive
who shot his way out of an Atlanta courtroom.  After several tense
hours she talked him into allowing her to go free resulting in the
nonviolent end of a real-life drama that captivated the nation. Of
course, her own road to devout Christianity and the book The Purpose
Driven Life by Rick Warren, the famed evangelical pastor of
California’s Saddleback Church, were key to the story’s happy ending.
Could those facts have anything to do with Hollywood’s skittishness?

IN THE PRESENCE OF MY ENEMIES by Gracia Burnham (Tyndale House Publishers)
Another
true story written by the person who lived it — and, again, the screenplay would virtually write itself.  In 2001 Gracia Burnham was a Protestant missionary who, along with her missionary
husband, spent a year in captivity by Islamist terrorists
operating in the southern Philippines.  Her husband was killed in the
daring rescue that freed her.  An amazing — and dramatic — story.

Charlie Sheen in rehab. The Two and a Half Men star made his decision after being rushed to the hospital with abdominal pains that a  TMZ report suggests may have been linked to a cocaine bender. Let’s hope and pray this guy gets the help he needs..   

Salvation Boulevard sells @ Sundance. IFC Films and Sony Pictures jointly pickup the religiously themed comedy Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Connelly, Marisa Tomei and Ed Harris. The plot, per Hollywood Reporter, involves “a duplicitous preacher, a former deadhead, a true believer, a security
guard, an atheistic novelist and an antique handgun that collide in
comedic ways.” It’s based on a novel by Larry Beinhart.