ROTA Update... Wait, I'm Still Doing These?

So yeah, Left Behind: Rise of the Antichrist comes out on DVD/Blu-ray today and producer Paul Lalonde indicated on Facebook that the greenlight for another movie depends on those sales numbers. This is despite the Sorbo Family's ego-filled insistence that a continuation was totally happening, with Braeden even bragging that his unnecessary OC insert was to become a MAJOR CHARACTER going forward (Ugh )

Out of loyalty to a franchise I love, I am going to (eventually) buy the DVD for my collection... but I am still disgusted by this whole mess. I want Left Behind to succeed, but if there is a next one, PLEASE dump Kevin Sorbo and his silly family. Get some real actors. Get some real screenwriters. LB is a 16-novel epic about Heaven and Hell's final battles on Earth. It shouldn't be this hard to get it right. Paul Lalonde makes Kathleen Kennedy look competent by comparison

Comments

[Herald of Opera]

Hollywood was never that good at thinking ahead. The serial epic you're thinking of could only happen as a TV series.

That might actually be a good idea; the usual problem with overtaking the source should be mitigated by the fact that the whole thing is based on a real-life prophecy and therefore can't deviate too far.

[Nico-Stone Rupan]

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Hollywood was never that good at thinking ahead.

Technically, Paul's an independent Canadian producer.

The serial epic you're thinking of could only happen as a TV series.

That's what a lot of LB fans are begging for, especially since The Chosen has become a huge hit, but I disagree. I would prefer a movie series in the vein of the MCU.

the usual problem with overtaking the source should be mitigated by the fact that the whole thing is based on a real-life prophecy and therefore can't deviate too far

In Paul's case, it's that he doesn't completely agree with Tim LaHaye's interpretation of said prophecy. He's said that staying accurate to the Bible (meaning his view of it) was more important to staying true to the books. That's a red flag to me. Also, he has an obsession with adding new characters and subplots.

[Herald of Opera]

I would prefer a movie series in the vein of the MCU.

And I'm saying that the way movies are made doesn't allow that to happen. Planning such a huge undertaking when it's not even clear whether there's enough of a market for it all is a tough sell. (Previous movies have bombed, which Hollywood et al see as an unnecessary risk when they can instead remake a movie that sold well).

He's said that staying accurate to the Bible (meaning his view of it) was more important to staying true to the books. That's a red flag to me.

I agree with Paul's sentiment in theory, but Biblical study is a whole university-level field and I doubt we'll see those arguments resolved until and unless the Rapture has come and gone. Certainly not on the set of a movie that's trying to show the prophecy coming to pass!

[Nico-Stone Rupan]

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Your point about risk can be applied to TV series as well. A planned long-form series can get cancelled after a single season if it fails to gain enough viewership just as an initial movie introducing a cinematic universe can bomb. So it then just comes down to preferred format. Mine happens to be movies.

Paul has a history of interpreting the "Image of the Beast" as VRChat. If he inserts that into Left Behind, I gonna lose it All I want is a competent adaptation of the books.