Here are today’s quick dispatches from the crossroads of faith, media and culture.

1. Faith-based Left Behind saga reportedly getting a movie reboot. From Hollywood Reporter: Paul Lalonde, the writer and producer of the original set of movies made by Lalonde’s Cloud Ten Pictures, and John Patus, who worked on the final entry, 2005’s Left Behind: World at War, have written a screenplay, and Cloud Ten is now searching for a director. The script will be shown to buyers at the American Film Market, which gets under way this week in Santa Monica…The (original) Left Behind movies, which starred Kirk Cameron and launched in 2001, adapted the mega-successful books written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkinsthat reportedly sold more than 65 million copies. The movies were political thrillers that focused on the End of Days and the Rapture.
Comment: I never saw the original since I’m not real big on this particular genre of faith-based film. Maybe because movies like this remind me of a really scary fire-and-brimstone minister I used to hear on the radio as a little kid. I don’t doubt that the filmmakers’ intentions are good. It’s just not my cup of tea.  Anyway, here’s the trailer to the original.

2. Update: Iranian actress spared lashes. From Dawn.com: An Iranian actress sentenced to be whipped for her role in an Australian-produced film has been spared the lashes and been freed after having her term reduced on appeal, a source close to her family confirmed to AFP on Saturday. Marzieh Vafamehr had her original punishment of a year in prison and 90 lashes cut to the three months detention already served and a 1,000-dollar fine instead of the whipping, the source said on condition of anonymity. The source confirmed information given by Amnesty International in London that Vafamehr was freed this week.
…Iran’s Fars news agency said the film – which contains a scene showing Vafamehr with a shaved head and not wearing the headscarf obligatory under Iran’s Islamic laws – had not been approved for distribution in the country and was being distributed there illegally.
Comment: This is what qualifies as a liberal decision in Iran. Still, it’s good news to be celebrated.

Encourage one another and build each other up – 1 Thessalonians 5:11