'Left Behind' series in pursuit of a second big-screen treatment

By Sarah Sluis

The current success of Courageous, which was made for just a couple million dollars and has reaped fifteen times that at the box office, has all eyes on the faith-based movie market. Not every project is a success (see the recent The Mighty Macs), but movies such as 2008's Fireproof, last year's The Blind Side, which successfully marketed to Christians, and, of course, The Passion of the Christ show that movies that resonate with the faith-based market can tap millions of moviegoers who most likely select the movies they see in theatres very, very carefully. The Left Behind series, which read like a pulp thriller but dramatize the end-of-times beliefs that are very real to many evangelists, has already been adapted for the screen. Kirk Cameron (of Fireproof) starred in the original, which made just $4 million during its brief 2001 run at the box office. Two more movies followed, Tribulation Force and Left Behind: World at War, though neither released theatrically. According to IMDB, the final film released in churches instead of in theatres.

Now there are plans to redo the series with a $15 million budget. (The trailer for the original suggests a lower budget than $15 million). The number is low given the amount of action involved, but THR labels it an "ambitious" project for the small, faith-based production company, Cloud Ten Pictures. A new screenplay was written by original writer/producer Paul Lalonde and John Patus, who consulted on or wrote the scripts for the three movies. The fact that the original players are involved doesn't suggest that the movie will have an entirely fresh take.

Left Behind is a disaster-fueled apocalypse that has very compelling moments. The book starts with a pilot's startling development that half the people on his flight have disappeared (they've been raptured). The pilot and his daughter, who were both left behind because they weren't true believers, become believers. They join up with others and go on a quest to defeat the Antichrist, who scripture says will rise to power after the Rapture.

As I wrote last week, apocalypse projects are all the rage now, so a redo could tap into a larger trend. If done right, the movie could expand beyond its Christian base, even if some viewers read the Rapture explanation as science fiction rather than religious probability.