Is Nicolas Cage the New Kirk Cameron?

by Steve Eastman, Faith Issues

Nicolas Cage has a chance to fill Kirk Cameron’s shoes in a remake of Left Behind.  According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cage is in talks for the lead role.  Cage’s acting credits include Lord of War, Family Man and Ghost Rider.  He’s also a sci-fi buff, having named one of his sons Kal-El, Superman’s Kryptonian name.
 
Left Behind, a Christian movie written from the premillennial/dispensational perspective, is about what happens after the Rapture, a theological concept linked to a vision of a 15 year-old convalescing Scottish girl, Margaret McDonald, in 1830.   Although unknown to Luther, Wesley and other early Reformers, the theory took hold among Western evangelicals largely through its promotion in the Scofield Reference Bible.  The Left Behind movie is set in modern times.

You may be wondering, “Why the reboot?”  Apparently it all goes back to 1999, when Left Behind co-author Tim LaHaye sued Cloud Ten Pictures, claiming the company breached its contract by producing a lower quality film than promised.  A federal judge did not buy the argument and dismissed the action against the movie company.  LaHaye’s actions seemed to violate the New Testament command not to sue a brother, you know, where it says it would be preferable to suffer wrong.  But all this history is largely forgotten today.  After all, this is the entertainment industry we are talking about, which depends on “the willing suspension of disbelief.”

Speaking of disbelief, guess who’s producing the new version of the film?  It’s none other than Cloud Ten Pictures!  This time the movie is being billed as a $15 million action thriller.  If all goes well, the cameras roll this coming spring in Baton Rouge.

Although Cage may take Cameron’s place in the movie, Kirk doesn’t have to worry about being edged out of his current television show, The Way of the Master, which features a lot of extemporaneous evangelism on the street.  It could be he has a bigger effect there.

© 2012 Faith Issues