Kelsey Grammer Joins Lionsgate’s ‘Jesus Revolution’

From Deadline : "Kelsey Grammer Joins Lionsgate’s ‘Jesus Revolution’"

Kelsey Grammer, Anna Grace Barlow, Jonathan Roumie and Nicholas Cirillo have joined the cast of Jesus Revolution, the Kingdom Story Company and Lionsgate film inspired by the true story of a national spiritual awakening in the early 1970s and its origins within a community of teenage hippies in Southern California. Grammer will star alongside Joel Courtney as well as Barlow and Roumie, and Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Ally Ioannides, Julia Campbell, Nic Bishop, and Jolie Jenkins.

In the 1970s, young Greg Laurie (Joel Courtney) sets out to redefine truth through all means of liberation, and instead, meets Lonnie Frisbee (Jonathan Roumie), a charismatic hippie street preacher. Laurie and Frisbee, along with Pastor Chuck Smith (Kelsey Grammer), open the doors of Smith’s languishing church to an unexpected revival by way of rock and roll, newfound love, and a twist of faith leading to a Jesus Revolution that changed the world. Laurie went on to start Harvest Christian Fellowship, one of the largest churches in America, and the Harvest Crusade events, which have been attended by over six million people.

Modern-day cause-related crusades and rallies for change are everywhere. Jesus Revolution is the story of one such movement that not only set a model for changemakers thereafter, but that sparked a revival with ripple effects that still matter today.

Grammer will play Chuck Smith, the real-life pastor of Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, who served as a mentor to Greg Laurie. Chuck famously opened his church to a generation of hippies and seekers, helping to launch the last great spiritual revival in America.

Written by Jon Erwin and Jon Gunn, the film will be directed by Jon Erwin (I Can Only Imagine, American Underdog) and Brent McCorkle (Unconditional) and produced by Kevin Downes  and Jon and Andrew Erwin, along with Josh Walsh and Daryl Lefever.

“The movie is set in a very specific time and place, but the theme of finding a deeper meaning to life, in the midst of a fractured and broken world, is timeless,” said Erwin.. “In his iconic performances, Kelsey has a proven ability to connect with audiences in a real, vulnerable way, which will make him a tremendous presence in this film.”

Grammer added, “Jesus has been a profound influence in my life. I am proud to be a part of this film.” He is repped by UTA and Vault Entertainment.

Joel Courtney
Celeb Costars Who Became Best Friends in Real Life

From J-14 : "Celeb Costars Who Became Best Friends in Real Life"

Joey King and Joel Courtney

“Truly, every day with Joel was belly-laughs to the point where I’d be like, ‘I’m gonna pee.’ So, it’s hard to pinpoint any specific moment, but just being his friend is a constant flow of laughter,” Joey told J-14 exclusively in August 2021 about working with her Kissing Booth costar. “He makes everyone he’s around so happy. I just feel really lucky to have shared all those laughs with him and that people can see that we really care about each other.”

Joel Courtney

From Screen Rant : “Kissing Booth: Lee Is Secretly In Love With Elle - Theory Explained”

Lee may be supportive of Elle and Noah's relationship, but based on few factors in The Kissing Booth, he might also be in love with his best friend.

The Kissing Booth ended with Elle (Joey King) and Noah (Elle) getting back together, but it's also possible that Lee (Joel Courtney) is secretly in love with his best friend. Based on the novels of the same name written by Beth Reekles, Netflix's rom-com trilogy follows a trio of life-long pals navigating love and life in California. The franchise has recently wrapped up with The Kissing Booth 3 where all three main characters were revealed to have been established adults after a six-year time jump. But while Lee is seen happily reunited with Rachel (Meganne Young) after splitting up before college, she might not be who he truly loves.

Premiering in 2018, The Kissing Booth actually kicked off Netflix's rom-com trend, with films like Set It Up and To All The Boys I've Loved Before following suit. While the movie was a miss with critics, it became popular with viewers, and soon after, the sequels were greenlit. The Kissing Booth 2 was released in 2020, and just a year after, The Kissing Booth 3 dropped on the platform, rounding up the trilogy. While the movie's premise focused on Elle and Lee's friendship, her romance with Noah eventually took over, effectively becoming the movies' primary narrative.

Belatedly, The Kissing Booth also gave Lee his own love interest — Rachel. While introduced in the first film, she's the most prominently featured in The Kissing Booth 2. Like Elle and Noah, they, too, end up back together at the end of The Kissing Booth 3, although the threequel entirely skipped how. Still, based on some of Lee's reactions and actions, one can't help but wonder if he's harboring secret feelings for Elle.

Lee And Elle’s Relationship Explained

Lee and Elle's relationship started with their moms being best of friends. The Flynn and Evans matriarchs first met when they were both at U.C. Berkeley, and from there, they became inseparable. Not only did Lee and Elle grew up with each other, but they also share birthdays, so it was easy for them to become best friends. By the time Elle's mother died due to some illness, Sara Flynn (Molly Ringwald) stepped in to be her pseudo-mom, making her almost like a family. Spending time together, Elle and Lee created all sorts of fun lists such as a friendship rule guide, as well as, a bucket list — both of them factored into The Kissing Booth movies. While the former helped them establish some ground rules, it was also a source of friction, especially after Elle's relationship with Noah and her subsequent decision to go to Harvard broke some of those promises.

Lee Became More Controlling When Elle Started Dating Noah

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The whole primary premise of the original The Kissing Booth movie revolved around Elle coming to terms with her growing crush for Noah. But knowing full well that dating family members of her best friend is prohibited according to their list, she tried to control her attraction. Unfortunately (or fortunately), Noah is also quite smitten with her. After learning about this, the pair started dating in secret, delaying the inevitable about coming clean. Before they could decide how to do it, however, Lee caught them, which, expectedly caused a massive conflict between the brother and the best friends. Interestingly, however, even after the younger Flynn came to terms with the idea of Elle and Noah as a couple, it continued to be a problem for him in The Kissing Booth 2 and subsequently, The Kissing Booth 3. It doesn't make that much sense - considering the fact that he, too, had his own love life - to be seemingly jockeying for Elle's attention.

Lee Is More Concerned With Elle Than Rachel

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Admittedly, Lee started to loosen up in The Kissing Booth 2 as he officially started dating. In fact, it was Elle who's overly clingy at this point as she struggled with her long-distance set-up with Noah. So, it's was surprising when he became much more controlling in The Kissing Booth 3, especially after his best friend decided to choose to go to Harvard with her boyfriend than to U.C. Berkeley. For starters, it didn't feel right that Lee had such a massive reaction to Elle's choice - after all, everyone knew that she applied to both schools. After her harrowing experience during Noah's first year away, it's almost predictable that she was going to choose Harvard. In any case, the fact that she even tried getting into the East Coast-located university was already a massive sign. But what makes Lee's aggressive reaction more dubious is the fact that he didn't have any problem with Rachel going to Rhode Island for college — which is also on the other side of the country. If he's able to give his girlfriend the liberty to make a life far from him, how can he not do that with Elle?

Why Wouldn’t Lee Confess His Feelings For Elle? 

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If Lee was in love with Elle, why couldn't he simply confess his feelings? Ultimately, it may have to be because of his real feeling about Noah. It's possible that Lee has long been in love with Elle, but since they're good friends, he was hesitant to make a move, afraid that it would ruin their relationship and make it awkward if she doesn't reciprocate. Lee could've chosen to settle being her buddy since it's the safest way to keep her close to him. Things changed, however, when she and Noah started dating. It's clear from the get-go in the original The Kissing Booth that the Flynn brothers don't have the best dynamic. Noah is often regarded as the hotshot in high school, while Lee was forced to live in his shadows. But, that didn't bother him at first since he was happy minding his own life with Elle. Now, when Noah started a romance with her, it further triggered Lee's inferiority complex, feeling as if the older Flynn was taking Elle away from him. This couldn't be farther from the truth since she was already harboring feelings for Noah long before she found out that they were mutual. He tried shifting his focus elsewhere in found Rachel, who has had her eyes on him earlier. Between that and Noah's absence in The Kissing Booth 2, Lee was able to effectively bury his feelings for Elle. But once his brother was back in The Kissing Booth 3, he started acting up once again.

Joel Courtney
Will There be The Kissing Booth 4 On Netflix?

From Gizmo Story : “Will There be The Kissing Booth 4 On Netflix?”

The Kissing Booth is a 2018 North American teen romantic comedy film based on the 2012 novel of the same name, The Kissing Booth by Beth Reekles. The film has been written as well as directed by Vince Marcello. The movie casts Joel Courtney, Joey King, and Jacob Elordi. The Kissing Booth was released on May 11, 2018. The second sequel of the movie, The Kissing booth two, was released on July 24, 2020, and the third sequel, The Kissing Booth three, was released recently on August 11, 2021.

The film develops around Elle Evans, Lee Flynn, and Noah Flynn. Elle and Lee have been childhood best friends, and they follow a particular set of friendship rules which they have sworn to follow to protect their special bond. However, the friendship between Elle and Lee gets jeopardized when Elle finds her first love in Noah Flynn, the deviant older brother of Lee Flynn.

Slowly, love bloomed between Noah and Elle; Elle broke those specific set of rules and ended up hurting Lee; slowly, tension began to rose between the two brothers, and Elle faces the problem of losing them both.

The Kissing Booth is a movie available for streaming on Netflix. This film is a Netflix original, and therefore due to the streaming rights, the movie will not be available to watch or stream on other OTT platforms. Due to the growing competition, Netflix would keep as many movies as their exclusive to fight their competition and have more audience. The movie can not be purchased either because that would eventually lead to the loss of audience from Netflix.

Can we Expect a Sequel?

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After the end of the third movie, The Kissing Booth, season four seems to be unlikely and after the actress of the three films, Joey King, called the third movie “and end of an era.” However, these are her statements and not from the creators of the films because The Kissing Booth trilogy has grown a very strong fan base, and the third sequel of the movie has been on the most-watched lists on Netflix since August 11, 2021.

The fans of the show definitely want more of the movie, and the vague and unclear ending of the movie might lead to a fourth sequel of the fan-favorite movie. The third movie ends with an epilogue set in six years in the future where Elle and Noah met for the first time in years they broke up before college. As the picture came to an end, the couple had flickers of their old love as they went on for a motorcycle ride.

This ending has made the fans come up with their own theories and how the story would take place in the next phase of their lives. However, despite all the crazy theories formulated by the fans or the rumors circulating the internet, Netflix has not yet confirmed the fourth sequel of the movie or some other form of continuation, such as a TV series.

Joey King told the Nerds of Colour, “It’s very moving to say goodbye to a character you’ve been playing for this many years, and also playing this personality through such significant moments in my life.” The cast members of The Kissing Booth gave similar statements in Vanity Fair and Entertainment Tonight. An overall, we never know about a sequel of the movie as there is a massive fan following of the movie all over the globe, and the fans can expect a sequel or announcement about the movie in a few years.

Joel Courtney
The Kissing Booth 3 Highlights The Problem With Elle & Lee's Friendship

From News Nation USA : “The Kissing Booth 3 Highlights The Problem With Elle & Lee's Friendship”

Do you agree?

Elle and Lee’s story in The Kissing Booth 3 emphasizes the biggest problem with their friendship and how their relationship can be toxic.

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for The Kissing Booth 3.

The Kissing Booth 3 emphasizes the biggest problem with Elle (Joey King) and Lee (Joel Courtney) friendship. Netflix’s rom-com franchise based on Beth Reekles’ books of the same name wrapped up with the release of its third film. In it, Elle, Lee, with Noah (Jacob Elordi), and Rachel (Meganne Young) decided to make the most out of their final summer together before everybody goes to college.

Coming into The Kissing Booth 3The Kissing Booth 2 set up the conflict between the Flynn boys regarding where Elle might go to college. She was unsure whether to go to U.C. Berkeley as she and her best friend planned, or go to Harvard so she and her boyfriend no longer have to deal with their long-distance set-up. To make matters worse, Elle was accepted into both schools, forcing her to make the decision on her own. There was an assumption that this was going to be the central plot for the threequel, but it was quickly resolved at the beginning after Elle decided to go to Boston, which made Noah happy but left his younger brother frustrated.

Lee was initially mad about it; he didn’t like that Elle was breaking another friendship rule as she did when she started dating Noah. He said that he felt abandoned by his best friend. So, she tried to make up for it by promising to finish all the items on their summer bucket list. This pacified him for a bit, but with the task list too long, accomplishing all of them in a matter of months was difficult. It meant that they would have to stick very close to their schedule if they want to accomplish everything. This wasn’t a problem for Lee, but things were different for Elle — who had to get a part-time job, babysit her brother, and also spend time with her boyfriend. It didn’t take long before their plans fall apart, and while Elle was also partly to blame for not being more forthcoming with her struggles, the whole issue goes back to Lee and how he could be controlling.

He was so focused on Elle that he didn’t even have a proper arc with Rachel. In fact, what’s more odd about Lee’s fixation on his best friend’s future is that he didn’t have the same issues with his girlfriend who’s also moving across the country for college. As revealed in The Kissing Booth 3, Rachel was going to Rhode Island School of Design, and while Lee had already started planning how they will navigate the long-distance relationship, he wasn’t hanging by her every move throughout the end of The Kissing Booth’s trilogy. Granted that he and Elle’s relationship go way farther than his romance, it’s just weird that he seemingly has the urge to control his best friend more than anyone else.

Perhaps it has something to do with his rather complex relationship with Noah, feeling like he’s taking away Elle. Lee talked about the supposed tug-of-war between him and his brother for her attention, lamenting that he’d always come second to Noah. Regardless of his unresolved feelings in The Kissing Booth 3, he’s still exhibiting toxic behavior, and there are better ways to deal with it than emotionally manipulating Elle.

Joel Courtney
'The Kissing Booth 3' Cast and Characters: A Guide to the Final Chapter of Netflix's Teen Rom-Com Trilogy

From Collider : “'The Kissing Booth 3' Cast and Characters: A Guide to the Final Chapter of Netflix's Teen Rom-Com Trilogy”

Lee Flynn is Elle’s best friend and the person responsible for most of the comic relief moments in the films. Once he finds out about Elle’s relationship with his brother Noah, Lee becomes infuriated for a while and then comes to terms with their happiness. In the same way that Elle is afraid of jeopardizing her friendship with Lee, Lee also doesn’t want his relationship with Rachel to be in the way of it. This even results in a couple of tough moments between them in The Kissing Booth 2. While Elle is still deciding if she will go to Berkeley or Harvard, Lee is pretty settled on maintaining their plan of fulfilling their rule to go to the same university. In The Kissing Booth 3, we will see Lee and Elle spending as much time as possible together before she decides on where she will go after the summer ends.

Joel Courteney plays Lee Flynn in The Kissing Booth trilogy, and like King, he also started his career at an early age. His first notable role was starring in the J.J. Abrams-directed sci-fi thriller Super 8 in 2011. The actor’s performance in the film led him to win the Best Performance by a Young Actor award in the 2012 Saturn Awards ceremony. After this, Joel had a couple of appearances in other thrillers and indie films including Stephen King’s Mercy and the leading role in the CW short-lived series, The Messengers.

Joel Courtney