'I Can Only Imagine 2' to begin production, will focus on MercyMe hit 'Even If'

NEW YORK — “I Can Solely Think about 2,” the extremely anticipated sequel to the 2018 field workplace success “I Can Solely Think about,” will quickly start manufacturing and choose up the place the final movie ended, specializing in MercyMe’s second largest hit, “Even If.”

Talking to The Christian Publish on the purple carpet premiere of his movie “The Unbreakable Boy,” producer Kevin Downes mentioned Lionsgate and Kingdom Story Firm are set to start manufacturing on the movie within the coming weeks. 

The primary movie, a faith-based drama that grossed over $83 million domestically, instructed the highly effective true story of MercyMe lead singer Bart Millard and the creation of the band’s iconic track. Downes and co-directors Andrew Erwin and Brent McCorkle are able to proceed the journey, exploring the following chapter of Millard’s life and music.

“In six weeks. Andy Erwin and I begin on a sequel for ‘I Can Solely Think about 2,'” Downes mentioned. “We’re excited. We’re totally solid up. We’re prepared to enter the persevering with story the place the primary one left off, the Bart Millard story.”

The sequel will once more star John Michael Finley as Bart Millard, with Dennis Quaid reprising his function as Millard’s father, Arthur, and Hint Adkins returning as MercyMe’s supervisor, Scott Brickell. In a shocking addition, Milo Ventimiglia (“This Is Us,” “Rocky Balboa”) has joined the solid as Christian musician Tim Timmons, a key determine in MercyMe’s journey. 

“The addition of Milo Ventimiglia to the solid to play Tim Timmons goes to be so extraordinary,” Downes mentioned. “That dude is so all in, we’re pinching ourselves. It is simply going to be a kind of enjoyable experiences to movie as a result of we all know the film goes to be good.”

The primary movie delved into Millard’s troubled previous, his father’s transformation by religion, and the creation of “I Can Solely Think about,” the best-selling Christian single of all time. The sequel, Downes confirmed, will observe MercyMe’s subsequent chapter and the track that outlined it.

“The track that we concentrate on begins with ‘Think about,’ so you are going to get all of the feels of the peak of ‘I Can Solely Think about’ when it was launched,” Downes defined. “After which the track it finally ends up monitoring is their second largest hit, which was referred to as ‘Even If.’ I like the script — there are such a lot of entry factors character-wise into it.”

MercyMe’s “Even If” was one other chart-topping track that supplied a poignant message of religion within the face of struggling. The track was impressed by Millard’s expertise together with his son’s sickness, a deeply private battle that formed the band’s music and ministry. 

“My son, Sam, is 15 years previous, and he is been a diabetic since he was 2. Once you’re a father or mother of a kid with any sort of persistent sickness, this stuff do not go away. You might have quite a lot of good days, however some days you are feeling such as you’re shedding unhealthy. I used to be within the midst of a kind of unhealthy days when ‘Even If’ was written,” Millard beforehand mentioned of the track.

Lyrics embrace the traces: “They are saying it solely takes somewhat religion/ To maneuver a mountain/ Nicely good factor/ Just a little religion is all I’ve, proper now/ However God, when You select/ To go away mountains unmovable/ Oh give me the energy to have the ability to sing/ It’s effectively with my soul. … I do know You are in a position and I do know You possibly can/ Save by the fireplace with Your mighty hand/ However even when You do not/ My hope is You alone.”

In 2018, Millard applauded filmmakers for doing what he termed a “nice job with a redemption story, including: “It is sort of scary making a faith-based movie. I did not need it to be low-hanging fruit or sort of a corny film, and I feel they did a extremely nice job of capturing the emotion. There have been some scenes for me, in watching the movie, that made me actually uncomfortable — as a result of I used to be sort of reliving it, and I feel that is an indication of a job effectively performed.”

“I Can Solely Think about 2” is being helmed by administrators McCorkle and Erwin, who co-wrote the screenplay with Millard. Kingdom Story Firm, which Downes co-founded with the Erwin brothers, continues its mission of telling faith-driven tales that encourage and uplift.

Downes instructed CP the artistic group behind the movie believes “I Can Solely Think about 2” will resonate simply as strongly as the unique. “We all know the movie goes to be good,” he mentioned. “I am unable to wait. It is going to be nice.”