Exclusive: Parenthood and Gilmore Girls actress Lauren Graham has boarded Lionsgate and Kingdom Story Company’s upcoming holiday theatrical release, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
The feature take of Barbara Robinson’s classic book, under the direction of Dallas Jenkins, recently wrapped production. The pic hits theaters on Nov. 15.
In addition, some cast members from Jenkins’ The Chosen series also joined the film, including Kirk B.R. Woller, Vanessa Benavente, and Elizabeth Tabish.
Graham will play the pic’s the narrator in addition to making a key on-screen cameo. Woller, Benavente and Tabish respectively play Reverend Hopkins, a first-grade teacher, and church lady Mrs. Grady. Peru native Benavente played Mother Mary in The Chosen, while Tabish portrayed Mary Magdalene.
The family comedy also stars Judy Greer as Grace, the director of the pageant, and Pete Holmes as her husband, Bob.
Screenplay is from Darin McDaniel & Platte Clark and Ryan Swanson and Jenkins.
The feature take of Barbara Robinson’s classic book, under the direction of Dallas Jenkins, recently wrapped production. The pic hits theaters on Nov. 15.
In addition, some cast members from Jenkins’ The Chosen series also joined the film, including Kirk B.R. Woller, Vanessa Benavente, and Elizabeth Tabish.
Graham will play the pic’s the narrator in addition to making a key on-screen cameo. Woller, Benavente and Tabish respectively play Reverend Hopkins, a first-grade teacher, and church lady Mrs. Grady. Peru native Benavente played Mother Mary in The Chosen, while Tabish portrayed Mary Magdalene.
The family comedy also stars Judy Greer as Grace, the director of the pageant, and Pete Holmes as her husband, Bob.
Screenplay is from Darin McDaniel & Platte Clark and Ryan Swanson and Jenkins.
- 1/29/2024
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Kingdom Story Company Appoints Partners Kevin Downes As CEO & Andrew Erwin As Chief Creative Officer
Exclusive: Kingdom Story Company, the production shingle behind Lionsgate’s cash cow Jesus Revolution among other hits, has appointed Kevin Downes as CEO and Andrew Erwin as Chief Creative Officer ahead of its 2024 theatrical film slate with the studio.
In addition, Kingdom Story Company and Lionsgate have entered into a partnership on the follow-up to Wonder, White Bird from filmmaker Marc Forster based on the book by Rj Palacio. The studios will leverage Kingdom’s incredible faith-based reach to promote the movie, which will now release on Oct. 4, 2024.
Other movies on the Kingdom Story-Lionsgate slate include 2x Oscar winner Hilary Swank’s Ordinary Angels on Feb. 23, the April dated Unsung Hero and The Unbreakable Boy, and the year-end holiday title The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, directed by Dallas Jenkins, creator of the TV series The Chosen.
Downes and Erwin are both partners in the Nashville-based Kingdom Story Company, along with...
In addition, Kingdom Story Company and Lionsgate have entered into a partnership on the follow-up to Wonder, White Bird from filmmaker Marc Forster based on the book by Rj Palacio. The studios will leverage Kingdom’s incredible faith-based reach to promote the movie, which will now release on Oct. 4, 2024.
Other movies on the Kingdom Story-Lionsgate slate include 2x Oscar winner Hilary Swank’s Ordinary Angels on Feb. 23, the April dated Unsung Hero and The Unbreakable Boy, and the year-end holiday title The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, directed by Dallas Jenkins, creator of the TV series The Chosen.
Downes and Erwin are both partners in the Nashville-based Kingdom Story Company, along with...
- 12/14/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Judy Greer (White House Plumbers) and Pete Holmes (Crashing) have entered production in Winnipeg on The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, an inspirational comedy that The Chosen‘s Dallas Jenkins is helming for Lionsgate and Kingdom Story Company.
Co-starring in the pic, based on the international bestseller by Barbara Robinson, is Molly Belle Wright (Deep Water).
The film centers on the Herdman kids, who are the absolute worst. They lie, they steal, they bully… and they’ve hijacked the town Christmas pageant. As the rowdy and raucous siblings force themselves into all of the lead roles, they drive the pageant’s director, Grace (Judy Greer), and other members of her family, including husband Bob (Holmes), up the wall. But through their misfit mischief, these unlikely messengers might turn out to be the ones to deliver the town’s sensational and moving portrayal of the true meaning of Christmas.
Script was...
Co-starring in the pic, based on the international bestseller by Barbara Robinson, is Molly Belle Wright (Deep Water).
The film centers on the Herdman kids, who are the absolute worst. They lie, they steal, they bully… and they’ve hijacked the town Christmas pageant. As the rowdy and raucous siblings force themselves into all of the lead roles, they drive the pageant’s director, Grace (Judy Greer), and other members of her family, including husband Bob (Holmes), up the wall. But through their misfit mischief, these unlikely messengers might turn out to be the ones to deliver the town’s sensational and moving portrayal of the true meaning of Christmas.
Script was...
- 12/12/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Lionsgate and Kingdom Story Company have won a competitive bidding war for an adaptation of “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.” The film, to be based on Barbara Robinson’s popular book, will be penned and directed by Dallas Jenkins, the creator, director and producer of “The Chosen.”
“The Best Christmas Pageant,” which has sold over seven million copies since its publication in 1972, centers on the Herdmans – apparently the very worst kids in the history of the world. However, they end up taking over their town’s local Christmas pageant. Possible spoilers – it just might accidentally teach the community the true meaning of Christmas.
Kingdom Story’s Kevin Downes, Daryl Lefever, Andrew Erwin and Jon Erwin will produce alongside McDaniel and Thomas. Jenkins will executive produce alongside Molen, Mark Kendell, and Tony Young. Production begins next month in Canada. The film will debut theatrically over the 2024 holiday season.
Jenkins today released...
“The Best Christmas Pageant,” which has sold over seven million copies since its publication in 1972, centers on the Herdmans – apparently the very worst kids in the history of the world. However, they end up taking over their town’s local Christmas pageant. Possible spoilers – it just might accidentally teach the community the true meaning of Christmas.
Kingdom Story’s Kevin Downes, Daryl Lefever, Andrew Erwin and Jon Erwin will produce alongside McDaniel and Thomas. Jenkins will executive produce alongside Molen, Mark Kendell, and Tony Young. Production begins next month in Canada. The film will debut theatrically over the 2024 holiday season.
Jenkins today released...
- 11/10/2023
- by Scott Mendelson
- The Wrap
Exclusive: In a competitive situation, Lionsgate and Kingdom Story Company have nabbed The Best Christmas Pageant ever which The Chosen creator/producer/director Dallas Jenkins will direct and adapt from Barbara Robinson’s comedic family book and play. Cameras roll next month in Canada for a 2024 holiday theatrical release.
Jenkins pursued a 15-year journey to secure the rights to The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, rights which have been stewarded by Darin McDaniel, Chet Thomas, and Gerald R. Molen. The book has sold over 7M copies since it was published in 1972.
Dallas Jenkins
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever centers on the Herdmans – absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world. But this Christmas, they’re taking over their local church Pageant – and they just might unwittingly teach a shocked community the true meaning of Christmas.
The pic will be produced by Kingdom Story’s Kevin Downes, Daryl Lefever, Andrew Erwin...
Jenkins pursued a 15-year journey to secure the rights to The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, rights which have been stewarded by Darin McDaniel, Chet Thomas, and Gerald R. Molen. The book has sold over 7M copies since it was published in 1972.
Dallas Jenkins
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever centers on the Herdmans – absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world. But this Christmas, they’re taking over their local church Pageant – and they just might unwittingly teach a shocked community the true meaning of Christmas.
The pic will be produced by Kingdom Story’s Kevin Downes, Daryl Lefever, Andrew Erwin...
- 11/10/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
It is not often these days that you get a Hollywood studio release born out of the late-’60s and ’70s hippie movement, but in blending a true-life faith-based story with the uninhibited counterculture of the time, you have Jesus Revolution. It’s the latest spiritual exercise from the Erwin Brothers’ Kingdom Story Company virtual factory of inspirational faith-based films that really took hold with their 2018 smash hit I Can Only Imagine and more recently included the Kurt Warner football story American Underdog.
Unlike many films in the genre, which find their greatest box office success in the South and Midwest, the Erwins don’t dwell on pounding the message into their movies (thank God for that), but there is no question that belief in God when you might be at the lowest point of your life, questioning everything, is a key component, and clearly they look to real life for their inspiration.
Unlike many films in the genre, which find their greatest box office success in the South and Midwest, the Erwins don’t dwell on pounding the message into their movies (thank God for that), but there is no question that belief in God when you might be at the lowest point of your life, questioning everything, is a key component, and clearly they look to real life for their inspiration.
- 2/22/2023
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
Ethan Hawke has taken on the helm for the feature that will focus on the life of Flannery O’Connor, ‘Wildcat.’
Maya Hawke will star as the Southern writer. Other cast members include Oscar-nominee Laura Linney (“You Can Count on Me”), Philip Ettinger (“First Reformed”), Rafael Casal (“Blindspotting”), Steve Zahn (“White Lotus”), Cooper Hoffman (“Licorice Pizza”), Willa Fitzgerald (“Reacher”), Alessandro Nivola (“The Many Saints of Newark”) and Vincent D’Onofrio (“Law & Order: Criminal Intent”).
The story will follow O’Connor as she struggles to publish her first novel. A devout Catholic from Georgia, O’Connor was invited to the prestigious Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Famous for her offbeat short fiction about the American South and her faith, she was plagued by lupus for much of her life and died at 39.
Also in news – Jack O’Connell to play Amy Winehouse’s husband in biopic ‘Back to Black’
Ethan Hawke produces and also co-wrote the script with Shelby Gaines.
Maya Hawke will star as the Southern writer. Other cast members include Oscar-nominee Laura Linney (“You Can Count on Me”), Philip Ettinger (“First Reformed”), Rafael Casal (“Blindspotting”), Steve Zahn (“White Lotus”), Cooper Hoffman (“Licorice Pizza”), Willa Fitzgerald (“Reacher”), Alessandro Nivola (“The Many Saints of Newark”) and Vincent D’Onofrio (“Law & Order: Criminal Intent”).
The story will follow O’Connor as she struggles to publish her first novel. A devout Catholic from Georgia, O’Connor was invited to the prestigious Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Famous for her offbeat short fiction about the American South and her faith, she was plagued by lupus for much of her life and died at 39.
Also in news – Jack O’Connell to play Amy Winehouse’s husband in biopic ‘Back to Black’
Ethan Hawke produces and also co-wrote the script with Shelby Gaines.
- 1/24/2023
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Maya Hawke is set to take a leading role in a biopic about one of America's most indelible writers. According to Deadline, the "Stranger Things" and "Do Revenge" actor is set to star in and executive produce the film "Wildcat," which her father Ethan Hawke will direct and produce. "Wildcat" will tell the story of 20th-century Southern writer Flannery O'Connor, whose disturbing, religion-fueled Southern Gothic stories like "A Good Man is Hard To Find" and the novel "Wise Blood" remain literary mainstays to this day.
Maya Hawke will reportedly star as a young O'Connor in the stage before she published her first novel in 1952. The film is apparently a passion project for the star, with Ethan Hawke telling Deadline, "Maya has been working hard for years to put this project together, and we're grateful for the opportunity to introduce a new generation of filmgoers to the genius of Flannery O'Connor.
Maya Hawke will reportedly star as a young O'Connor in the stage before she published her first novel in 1952. The film is apparently a passion project for the star, with Ethan Hawke telling Deadline, "Maya has been working hard for years to put this project together, and we're grateful for the opportunity to introduce a new generation of filmgoers to the genius of Flannery O'Connor.
- 1/23/2023
- by Valerie Ettenhofer
- Slash Film
Ethan Hawke is keeping it all in the family with his latest film, “Wildcat.”
Based on the life of novelist Flannery O’Connor, the biopic film stars Maya Hawke as the Southern writer. Ethan directs, produces, and co-wrote the script along with Shelby Gaines, as Variety first reported.
“Maya has been working hard for years to put this project together, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to introduce a new generation of filmgoers to the genius of Flannery O’Connor,” Ethan said, while also sharing a first look at the production on Instagram. “Her work explores themes important to all artists — the intersection of creativity and faith, the blurred relationship between imagination and reality.”
Ethan previously starred opposite Maya on limited series “The Good Lord Bird.” Maya executive produces “Wildcat” through her Under the Influence Productions. Principal photography for the film began January 10 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Per the official synopsis,...
Based on the life of novelist Flannery O’Connor, the biopic film stars Maya Hawke as the Southern writer. Ethan directs, produces, and co-wrote the script along with Shelby Gaines, as Variety first reported.
“Maya has been working hard for years to put this project together, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to introduce a new generation of filmgoers to the genius of Flannery O’Connor,” Ethan said, while also sharing a first look at the production on Instagram. “Her work explores themes important to all artists — the intersection of creativity and faith, the blurred relationship between imagination and reality.”
Ethan previously starred opposite Maya on limited series “The Good Lord Bird.” Maya executive produces “Wildcat” through her Under the Influence Productions. Principal photography for the film began January 10 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Per the official synopsis,...
- 1/23/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Ethan Hawke has started production on “Wildcat,” a look at the life of Flannery O’Connor that stars Maya Hawke as the Southern writer. He’s assembled an ensemble of heavy hitters that also includes Oscar-nominee Laura Linney (“You Can Count on Me”), Philip Ettinger (“First Reformed”), Rafael Casal (“Blindspotting”), Steve Zahn (“White Lotus”), Cooper Hoffman (“Licorice Pizza”), Willa Fitzgerald (“Reacher”), Alessandro Nivola (“The Many Saints of Newark”) and Vincent D’Onofrio (“Law & Order: Criminal Intent”).
In addition to directing the film, Ethan Hawke produces and also co-wrote the script with Shelby Gaines. “Wildcat” is produced by Joe Goodman of Good Country Pictures, Ryan Hawke and Ethan Hawke of Under the Influence Productions, Cory Pyke of Renovo Media Group and Kevin Downes and Jon Erwin and Daryl Lefever of Kingdom Story Company. Executive producers include Eric Groth and David Kingland of Renovo Media Group alongside Maya Hawke through Under the Influence Productions.
In addition to directing the film, Ethan Hawke produces and also co-wrote the script with Shelby Gaines. “Wildcat” is produced by Joe Goodman of Good Country Pictures, Ryan Hawke and Ethan Hawke of Under the Influence Productions, Cory Pyke of Renovo Media Group and Kevin Downes and Jon Erwin and Daryl Lefever of Kingdom Story Company. Executive producers include Eric Groth and David Kingland of Renovo Media Group alongside Maya Hawke through Under the Influence Productions.
- 1/23/2023
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
The official trailer and poster for American Underdog starring Zachary Levi has been released, and you can check them out right here on CinemaNerdz (see above).
American Underdog tells the inspirational true story of Kurt Warner (Zachary Levi), who went from a stockboy at a grocery store to a two-time NFL Mvp, Super Bowl champion, and Hall of Fame quarterback. The film centers on Warner’s unique story and years of challenges and setbacks that could have derailed his aspirations to become an NFL player – but just when his dreams seemed all but out of reach, it is only with the support of his wife, Brenda (Anna Paquin) and the encouragement of his family, coaches, and teammates that Warner perseveres and finds the strength to show the world the champion that he already is. American Underdog is an uplifting story that demonstrates that anything is possible when you have faith,...
American Underdog tells the inspirational true story of Kurt Warner (Zachary Levi), who went from a stockboy at a grocery store to a two-time NFL Mvp, Super Bowl champion, and Hall of Fame quarterback. The film centers on Warner’s unique story and years of challenges and setbacks that could have derailed his aspirations to become an NFL player – but just when his dreams seemed all but out of reach, it is only with the support of his wife, Brenda (Anna Paquin) and the encouragement of his family, coaches, and teammates that Warner perseveres and finds the strength to show the world the champion that he already is. American Underdog is an uplifting story that demonstrates that anything is possible when you have faith,...
- 11/17/2021
- by Editor
- CinemaNerdz
Drama tells story behind most played radio song in Christian music history.
Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions have acquired North American rights to Jon and Andrew Erwin’s film I Can Only Imagine starring Dennis Quaid and Cloris Leachman and Country singer Trace Adkins.
The faith-based drama is scheduled for release in North America on March 16, 2018 and tells the story of ‘I Can Only Imagine’, the most played radio single in Christian music history.
At the heart of the story is how Bart Millard, lead singer of the Christian band MercyMe, wrote the song to change his relationship with his troubled father.
“This is an extraordinary movie about the power of faith, love, family, and music,” Roadside Attractions co-presidents and co-founders Howard Cohen and Eric d’Arbeloff said.
“The Erwins bring world-class storytelling and production values to faith-based films. It’s no surprise they have attracted such a phenomenal cast to their latest feature. We are thrilled...
Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions have acquired North American rights to Jon and Andrew Erwin’s film I Can Only Imagine starring Dennis Quaid and Cloris Leachman and Country singer Trace Adkins.
The faith-based drama is scheduled for release in North America on March 16, 2018 and tells the story of ‘I Can Only Imagine’, the most played radio single in Christian music history.
At the heart of the story is how Bart Millard, lead singer of the Christian band MercyMe, wrote the song to change his relationship with his troubled father.
“This is an extraordinary movie about the power of faith, love, family, and music,” Roadside Attractions co-presidents and co-founders Howard Cohen and Eric d’Arbeloff said.
“The Erwins bring world-class storytelling and production values to faith-based films. It’s no surprise they have attracted such a phenomenal cast to their latest feature. We are thrilled...
- 8/14/2017
- ScreenDaily
Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions have picked up the North American rights to faith-based feature I Can Only Imagine.
Dennis Quaid and Cloris Leachman star in the Jon and Andrew Erwin-directed drama, along with Priscilla Shirer, Madeline Carroll and J. Michael Finley.
I Can Only Imagine follows the true story of Bart Millard, lead singer of the Christian band MercyMe, and how he wrote what is now the most-played radio single in Christian music history.
Kevin Downes, Cindy Bond and Daryl Lefever are producing. The Erwin brothers are responsible for other faith-based fare, including Woodlawn.
I Can Only Imagine is set to be...
Dennis Quaid and Cloris Leachman star in the Jon and Andrew Erwin-directed drama, along with Priscilla Shirer, Madeline Carroll and J. Michael Finley.
I Can Only Imagine follows the true story of Bart Millard, lead singer of the Christian band MercyMe, and how he wrote what is now the most-played radio single in Christian music history.
Kevin Downes, Cindy Bond and Daryl Lefever are producing. The Erwin brothers are responsible for other faith-based fare, including Woodlawn.
I Can Only Imagine is set to be...
- 8/14/2017
- by Mia Galuppo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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