Production is underway in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on the family feature, Heaven is for Real for TriStar Pictures. Based on the #1 New York Times best-selling book of the same name, the film brings to the screen the true story of a small-town Pastor who must find the courage and conviction to share his son’s extraordinary, life-changing experience.
Heaven is for Real is directed by Randall Wallace (Braveheart, We Were Soldiers, Pearl Harbor, Secretariat). The screenplay is by Christopher Parker and Randall Wallace, based on the book by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent. The film is produced by Joe Roth (Alice In Wonderland, Oz The Great and Powerful, Snow White and the Huntsman), TD Jakes (Jumping The Broom, Not Easily Broken, Woman Thou Art Loosed: On The 7th Day) and Derrick Williams (Jumping The Broom, Woman Thou Art Loosed: On The 7th Day).
Heaven is for Real stars Greg Kinnear as Todd Burpo and co-stars Kelly Reilly as Sonja Burpo, the real-life couple whose son Colton (newcomer Connor Corum) experiences Heaven during emergency surgery. Colton recounts the details of his amazing journey with childlike innocence. He describes Heaven in vivid detail, and speaks matter-of-factly about things that happened before his birth … things he couldn’t possibly know. Todd is called upon by his congregation to explain the meaning of Colton’s revelations, and he and his family are challenged to examine their faith and draw meaning from this remarkable event.
Also co-starring are Margo Martindale, who portrays Nancy Rawling, and Thomas Haden Church as the Burpo family’s stalwart friend, Jay Olson. The film’s executive producers are Sue Baden-Powell (Elysium) and Sam Mercer (Snow White and the Huntsman, The Sixth Sense).
Heaven is for Real is scheduled for release at Easter 2014.
