From Just Jared Jr. : "Joel Courtney Finds Jesus In New 'Jesus Revolution' Trailer - Watch Now!"

Joel Courtney heads back to the 1970s for his new movie Jesus Revolution!

The Kissing Booth star joins Anna Grace Barlow, Kelsey Grammer and more in the upcoming movie, which is based on the true story of a divided moment in time when people came together by checking their preconceptions at the door – and formed a movement by listening to each other, looking beyond their own beliefs. This revival of radical and newfound love led to what TIME Magazine, in 1971, dubbed a JESUS REVOLUTION.

Here’s the movie’s synopsis: In the 1970s, young Greg Laurie (Courtney) is searching for all the right things in all the wrong places: until he meets Lonnie Frisbee (Jonathan Roumie), a charismatic hippie-street-preacher. Together with Pastor Chuck Smith (Grammer), they open the doors of Smith’s languishing church to an unexpected revival of radical and newfound love, leading to what TIME Magazine dubbed a JESUS REVOLUTION.

Kimberly Williams-Paisley also stars.

Jesus Revolution is set to hit theaters on February 24, 2023!

In the upcoming film “Jesus Revolution,” Kingdom Story Company is telling the true story of a young pastor’s journey through one of America’s most significant periods of spiritual revival, known as the “Jesus movement.”

The movie is based on Greg Laurie and Ellen Vaughn’s book of the same name, which narrates “the national spiritual awakening in the early 1970s and its origins within a community of teenage hippies in Southern California.”

The film follows a young Laurie and his coming-of-age testimony, a hippie street preacher, Lonnie Frisbee, and a pastor who opened his church doors, Chuck Smith.

“I don’t think we necessarily knew we were a part of history, but we knew we were part of something very special,” said Laurie in a first-look video. “Thousands of young people were coming to Christ and being baptized. We called it the ‘Jesus movement.’”

At NRB’s 75th anniversary celebration at the 2019 convention in Anaheim, California, Erwin Brothers, the production company of Jon Erwin and Andrew Erwin, announced the launch of a new faith-based film studio, Kingdom Story Company, helmed by the Erwin siblings, Kevin Downes, and Tony Young. The two-hour keynote event, which capped the Convention’s one-day TV & Film Summit, featured a special first look into “Jesus Revolution” with remarks from Laurie and marked the first time a studio-backed production company unveiled a slate of films in production at an NRB convention.

“Jesus Revolution,” a Kingdom Story film distributed by Lionsgate, will star Joel Courtney, Anna Grace Barlow, Jonathan Roumie, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, and Kelsey Grammer. The film is planned for nationwide release in February 2023.

From Milwaukee Journal Sentinel : "'Jesus Revolution': Meet the stars behind the movie based on a true story"

"Kissing Booth" star Joel Courtney stars as Greg Laurie in the film "Jesus Revolution." Laurie grows up in a troubled home and finds God and a life partner in Cathe (Anna Grace Barlow).

Jesus Revolution – Only in theaters February 2023. Starring Joel Courtney, Anna Grace Barlow, Jonathan Roumie, Kimberly Williams-Paisley and Kelsey Grammer.

From God TV : "‘Jesus Revolution’ Film, America’s Spiritual Awakening 60s & 70s to Hit the Big Screens"

A film based on a true story, ‘Jesus Revolution,’ telling the story of the great spiritual awakening of America in the 1960s and 1970s, will hit the big screens next year in February.

Jesus Revolution

Most Christians often look forward to Christian movies hitting the big screens. And now, another faith-based film is about to be released that would perhaps awaken believers again—the ‘Jesus Revolution.’

A book written by Pastor Greg Laurie inspired the Jesus Revolution’s storyline. Hence, it’s a true-to-life story that occurred during the 1960s and 1970s. A great spiritual awakening happened in America that shaped history at the time.

Greg was still a youth when he got saved because of the ‘Jesus Revolution.’ And after giving his life to Christ, he became a pastor. That’s why today, he pastors “one of the largest churches in America,” the Harvest Christian Fellowship, in Riverside, California.

What Happened In The 1960s & 1970s

In an interview with CBN, Greg described that moment as a “very dark time in American history.” Not until God intervened in the lives of teenage hippies in Southern California. The young people suddenly started coming to Christ. And among them was Greg Laurie, who didn’t know Jesus yet. At the time, he didn’t think he would become part of history.

“Thousands of young people were coming to Christ and being baptized,” he recalled. “We called it the Jesus movement.”

The film’s director Jon Erwin also shared about such a remarkable moment in the history of America. Of which, he made sure to be highlighted in the movie.

“It was a time of fear and doubts in a generation that was looking for all the right things but in the wrong places …came to the end of themselves,” he explained. “It was just a powerful move of God that was undeniable, it shaped culture and it shaped America. We haven’t experienced anything like it.”

Also, actor Jonathan Roumie who played the hippie street preacher named Lonnie Frisbee shared an update to fans on Instagram about the film.

“Experience the heart of our story: how a new counterculture crusade—a Jesus Movement—changed the course of history,” he wrote.

‘Jesus Revolution’ will air in theaters in February next year.

From SlashFilm : "J.J. Abrams Took An Unusual Approach To Super 8's Creature Design"

J.J. Abrams' 2011 sci-fi film "Super 8" is an unabashed homage to co-producer Steven Spielberg's own "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" as well as to the myriad "E.T." knockoffs that followed it throughout the '80s. Set in the very early 1980s, "Super 8" is about a quintet of 13-year-old Goonies who are busy making their own amateur zombie thriller on consumer-grade Super 8 cameras when they run afoul of a local military conspiracy hiding something from the public. It's pretty clear from the start that the secret is a space alien. The local Ohio town has been experiencing electrical and magnetic disturbances of extraterrestrial origin, and the film's lead character, Joe (Joel Courtney), begins experiencing a very E.T.-like psychic link to an off-screen life form of some kind. 

The actual alien doesn't appear on screen until the film's climax. The alien is not an adorable, kid-sized critter like in Spielberg's movie, but a massive, spindly monster with many long bony limbs, threatening eyes, and multiple nostrils. It had been trying to flee Earth ever since crash landing some 25 years before, and the main kids in "Super 8" were there to witness its freedom. 

The nameless alien was designed by Neville Page, a 20-year veteran of the industry who has worked on creatures and character designs for Tim Burton's "Planet of the Apes," "Cloverfield," "Avatar," "Prometheus," and Darren Aronofsky's "Noah." He's also behind the creatures on "Star Trek: Discovery" and "Star Trek: Picard." 

In an interview with Dread Central, Page talked about how the alien design for "Super 8" was arranged backward from the usual way of doing things. That means the production designer assembled the alien's underground lair prior to the design of the actual alien. The creature had to match the environment and not the other way around. 

When the feet match the floor

Logic would dictate, of course, that the alien be designed, and then machines and tools be designed to fit to its biology. By inverting that process, Page essentially became an archeologist, speculating what kind of species would occupy the chairs and environments that production designer Martin Whist invented. Not only was this difficult, but Page had to wrap his mind around an imaginary animal that was both lumbering and meticulous. In Page's words: 

"The design process on 'Super 8' was what I would call the 'cart leading the horse' approach. We had to design the creature at the same time [Whist] had to be creating these environments for the alien — like the underground lair — without even knowing yet what we were designing. Then there was this wish list of things the alien should have that were juxtapositions in design; the creature had to be extremely large but it had to have dexterity within its limbs to grab things like car engines and microwaves and then assemble them, so that was a design challenge in itself." 

The final design was only vaguely humanoid, with two leg limbs, four arm limbs (the creature had a secondary set of shoulders extending from its back), and an elongated, flat head atop a barrel-shaped torso. The creature's legs split at the shin, leading down to a pair of hoof-like feet on each leg. The hooves were, in Page's mind, an evolutionary development intended for digging, and Page figured his creature would be comfortable underground. By lucky coincidence, Whist had already designed an earthen floor for the alien's lair, making the two design departments temporarily copacetic. 

Pretty little alien eyes

Page recalls, also, that Abrams had a very specific decree when it came to making the alien: It had to have a relatable, human-enough face. The creature, in short, couldn't be so unusual that its emotions couldn't be read by the human audience. This all came down to the creature's eyes. Common wisdom dictates that a creature with small, beady, unreadable eyes would be seen as sinister, while a creature with large, round, open eyes would be seen as friendly. Abrams likely didn't want the former, and it's possible to push things too far in the latter; one doesn't want a cartoon character. Page feels like he struck a good balance, although is modest as to whether nor not he was entirely successful: 

"The design element that was probably the most important to J.J. was the alien's eyes. They had to be heartfelt and convincing and had to really be able to connect with the characters and audiences, which is something I feel like we were successful in achieving in 'Super 8.' Ultimately our alien had to be completely original, organic in nature and have an iconic feeling to it. The jury's still out on that last part but I'm hopeful that time will prove eventually that we did just that here."

Thanks to a brilliant marketing campaign, an unapologetic Amblin vibe, and Page's amazing creature work, "Super 8" emerged as one of the bigger hits of its year, making $127 million domestically on a mere $50 million budget. It was also critically well-received, with many critics praising its sense of awe and its young cast. 

One quibble, though: How did that convenience store clerk already have a Sony Walkman in 1980?

Greg Laurie (Joel Courtney) and his friends head to Southern California to redefine truth through all means of liberation. Everything changes when Laurie meets Lonnie Frisbee (Jonathan Roumie), a charismatic hippie street preacher, and Pastor Chuck Smith (Kelsey Grammer) who have opened the doors of Smith's church to a stream of wandering youth. What unfolds becomes the greatest spiritual awakening in American history. #JoelCourtney #KelseyGrammer #JonathanRoumie