Showing posts with label Apostle of Christ'. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Apostle of Christ'. Show all posts

Saturday, March 24, 2018

'A Transformative Experience': Why 'Paul, Apostle of Christ' Was a Life-Changer Before It Even Hit Theaters - CBN News Efrem Graham


'A Transformative Experience': Why 'Paul, Apostle of Christ' Was a Life-Changer Before It Even Hit Theaters
03-23-2018
CBN News Efrem Graham


DALLAS, Texas – Outside of Jesus, Paul is arguably one of the most important figures of the New Testament, and his story hits the big screen today just as believers prepare to celebrate Palm Sunday and Easter.
Set during a time of Christian persecution in Rome, "Paul, Apostle of Christ" focuses on his final days in prison.
CBN News' Studio 5 had a chance to sit down with the film's director and its stars, including Jim Caviezel, who plays Luke, and James Faulkner, who plays Paul.  
"Extraordinary. That whole story is extraordinary," Faulkner says, referring to Paul's transformation from persecutor to persecuted.
"In a sense, I am prepared to play Paul because I have played so many villains," Faulkner says.
"There is still some love in me and this may reawaken it. And it did," the actor continues. "For me, it was a transformative experience to play Paul."
"You cannot say those words without believing them. You cannot say those words without it changing you," Faulkner says.
For example, Paul states in the film, "You cannot repay evil for evil. Evil can only be overcome with good."
Jim Caviezel plays the role of Luke, the great physician who risks his life to visit Paul in prison.
More than a decade ago, he delivered an unforgettable performance in "The Passion of the Christ." But he has not done a Biblical film or many other big screen performances since portraying Christ.
Caviezel told CBN News agreeing to portray Luke in this new film was about "finding the right story."
"What I am looking for is common sense," Caviezel says. "And there was a common sense to this. It wasn't a film that just beat you over the head. I realize that this movie can for someone who doesn't know who God is, I mean anything about Him, it would have a massive effect on."
Andrew Hyatt wrote and directed the film. But Hyatt's fascination with the Biblical figure began years before he sat down to write the screenplay.
Hyatt says Paul's story is his story.
In a red carpet interview with CBN News, Hyatt shared, "I walked away from the church for about seven years. And then I had a major re-conversion back, very much in the vein of Saint Paul, a Damascus Road type experience."
Paul's story touched many on the set of the film, including Jim Caviezel.
Recalling the nearly month-long shoot, Caviezel said, "I just happened to go through a personal experience that was so rough this last year. My wife lost her brother."
"We were on the precipice of losing one of our best friends," Caviezel continued.
"He was a mentor to me. Every morning we would get up and go swimming and down to the ocean."
That friend had helped Caviezel to get through the tough time he faced professionally, following the 2004 release of "The Passion of the Christ."
Recalling that time, Caviezel said, "Stories like doing 'The Passion' and then not being able to get the jobs that you used to get. I mean here is a film that is that successful and you are treated like a bum on the street in your own industry, you know. And he always was the right kind of person to me because he always got me focused on not being a victim."
"When he died this last year, it was a cross and it hurt. But I was able to expiate my pain, playing this guy. And I was able to see what the story could be. It's really a mentor relationship."   
Caviezel says this latest role is preparing him for the follow up to "The Passion of the Christ."
"That's part of the plan, that's part of the way," Caviezel says.
"And it doesn't mean we are not going to have any crosses along the way. 'The Passion of the Christ' had a cross that was that close to taking my own life. A lightening strike, open heart surgery. It was traumatic. Loss of your Hollywood friends. But would I change that direction? No, it was the greatest thing ever."
Watch video here: Paul Apostle of Christ

Monday, March 5, 2018

Liberty Univ. Offers 'Paul, Apostle of Christ' Simulcast to Churches, Study Groups - CBN News Steve Warren

Jim Caviezel and James Faulkner star in "Paul, Apostle of Christ." Photo courtesy: Affirm Films/Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Jim Caviezel and James Faulkner star in "Paul, Apostle of Christ." Photo courtesy: Affirm Films/Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Liberty Univ. Offers 'Paul, Apostle of Christ' Simulcast to Churches, Study Groups
03-04-2018
CBN News Steve Warren
Actor Jim Caviezel and some of the nation's foremost biblical scholars and theologians appear in a roundtable discussion about the life and writings of the Apostle Paul. It will be available to churches and other groups through a nationwide simulcast leading up to the premiere of the new movie "Paul, Apostle of Christ." 
The simulcast will be available on March 11, 18 and 25. Churches and study groups can register for the free event, which was recorded last month at Liberty University.
Simulcast viewers will get a sneak peek of the film, including Caviezel's comments on the 30-day shoot on the island of Malta. They will also watch a panel discussion on the birth of the Christian church, what life was like in ancient Rome for believers as well as Paul's conversion from the church's greatest persecutor to its greatest proponent.
Caviezel, who also serves as an executive producer of the film, portrays Luke, the physician, and evangelist, who risks his life when he ventures into the city of Rome to visit Paul, who is held captive in Emperor Nero's darkest, bleakest prison cell.
But Nero is determined to rid Rome of Christians and does not flinch from executing them in the grisliest ways possible. Before Paul's death sentence can be enacted, Luke resolves to write another book, one that details the beginnings of "The Way" and the birth of what will come to be known as the church.
Bound in chains, Paul's struggle is internal. He has survived so much—floggings, shipwreck, starvation, stoning, hunger and thirst, cold and exposure—yet as he waits for his appointment with death, he is haunted by the shadows of his past misdeeds. Alone in the dark, he wonders if he has been forgotten and if he has the strength to finish well.
The two men struggle against a determined emperor and the frailties of the human spirit in order to live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ and spread their message to the world.
The movie stars Caviezel, (THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST), James Faulkner (Downton Abbey), Olivier Martinez (S.W.A.T.), Joanne Whalley (A.D. The Bible Continues) and John Lynch (THE SECRET GARDEN).
The movie is produced by Affirm Films, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment.
"Paul, Apostle of Christ," premieres in theaters nationwide on Friday, March 23.

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

'Paul, Apostle of Christ' Trailer Released Months Ahead of Anticipated Premiere - CBN News Steve Warren

'Paul, Apostle of Christ' Trailer Released Months Ahead of Anticipated Premiere
11-26-2017
CBN News Steve Warren


The first trailer for the new major motion picture about the life of the Apostle Paul has been released online. 
The movie titled Paul, Apostle of Christ brings to life the New Testament story of the man who went from persecutor of the church to its most powerful proponent.
"Each aspect of Paul's life is based on what we know from the Bible, and we set that true story in the perilous world of Rome in the time of Nero's persecution of Christians," said Andrew Hyatt, the film's director, and writer, in a statement. "It's a captivating, emotional drama that brings the Bible to life."
In the film, Paul suffers alone in a Roman prison, awaiting his execution under Emperor Nero. Mauritius, the ambitious prison prefect, can hardly see what threat this broken man poses. Once he was Saul of Tarsus, the high-ranking and brutal killer of Christians. Now his faith rattles Rome. 
At great risk, Luke the Physician visits the aged Paul to comfort and tend to him—and to question, to transcribe and to smuggle out Paul's letters to the growing community of believers. Amid Nero's inhuman persecution, these men and women will spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and change the world.
"Audiences of will experience a story true to what we know of Paul's life and true to the Gospel of love he shared and lived," T.J. Berden, one of the producers of the film said in a press release.  "It offers a gripping account of what the early Christian community faced in Rome simply trying to practice their faith with the threat of imprisonment and death always looming."
The movie stars Jim Caviezel (THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST), James Faulkner (Game of Thrones), Olivier Martinez (S.W.A.T.), Joanne Whalley (A.D. The Bible Continues) and John Lynch (THE SECRET GARDEN). 
The movie is produced by David Zelon (SOUL SURFER) and Berden (FULL OF GRACE). 
Paul, Apostle of Christ premieres in theaters on Wednesday, March 28, 2018.
Watch the first trailer for the movie below.


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