Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 07/31/23

In 2023, the fact-based faith-themed hits keep coming. Box office successes like Jesus Revolution (hitting Netflix today) and Sound of Freedom (still holding strong at #4 in its 4th week of release) are proving that there’s a large audience for movies featuring real-life protagonists of faith. With Sound pulling in an additional $12 million-plus over the weekend, Angel Studios Vice President of Theatrical Distribution Brandon Purdie confidently declares “We now know that this incredible film is going to surpass the $150 million mark domestically, and we’re strongly positioned to go well past that.”

Coming soon, The Hill starring Colin Ford (Pure Flix’s A Thousand Tomorrows, CBS’ Under the Dome) tells the true story of Texas native Rickey Hill who overcame an extreme physical handicap to achieve inspirational success in the game of baseball. Dennis Quaid co-stars as his protective father, a Baptist minister who himself has trouble believing in his son’s dream.

I recently caught up with Colin and asked him what drew him to the story of Rickey Hill. He told me that, while he’s a baseball fan (torn between rooting for the Atlanta Braves and the LA Dodgers), he had actually never heard of Rickey Hill before reading the script – but the script was enough to draw him into the story. He said “After I first opened the first few pages I couldn’t put it down. I just loved Rickey’s tenacity, his belief in himself, his pursuit of his God-given talents and his pursuit of his dreams.”

He added that his positive impression of the man he had from the script was reinforced when he had to opportunity to meet him in person, noting “I had a wonderful chance to spend some time with Rickey before starting on the film and then he was able to come by on set a couple times and share stories and just help with baseball stuff. It was wonderful.” He went on “Rickey is a great storyteller….He’ll keep you on the edge of your seat…He added so much value by being (on the set) and sharing little anecdotes (and) stories about things that happened surrounding a time that a particular scene took place. Having him there and hearing those stories just fired me up even more.”

Aside from the experience of meeting and working with Rickey, Colin recalled that co-starring with Dennis Quaid was also “a wonderful experience.” He praised him as “a wonderful actor and someone that I’ve looked up to my entire life. Getting the opportunity to share the screen with him was an incredible experience. I have to say, I was a little nervous. He’s such a veteran, so professional and so well prepared that I just wanted to do my due diligence and also be prepared as well. I think we nailed it.”

You can decide whether the movie looks like a homer to you by checking out the trailer below. The highly-anticipated movie arrives in theaters on Friday, August 25th.

Note: I’ll be taking the month of August off to recharge the proverbial battery. Have a great month and see you in September.

John W. Kennedy is a writer, producer and media development consultant specializing in television and movie projects that uphold positive timeless values, including trust in God.