Billy, the Grahams, and the grassroots.

The Guardian reports that about 50 “sneak peek” screenings of Billy: The Early Years are in the works, to help raise grassroots interest in the Billy Graham biopic before it opens October 10. The story also mentions that Graham himself, in “frail health” at 89, has not yet seen the film, but two of his children have: one, his daughter Gigi, is “publicly praising” the film and has been hired to help promote it; while the other, his son and presumptive heir Franklin, “has been too busy travelling lately to comment”, according to his spokesman. Eh? “Too busy”? Even to issue a brief statement, or to give a quick thumb up or down? Of course, Franklin’s reluctance to comment on the film may have little to do with its quality, and more to do with what the Guardian describes as his being “publicly peeved” that the Graham family was “never shown a script before the movie was made.” At any rate, apparently the film will be opening in only 20 states, at first, “most of them in the south and lower mid-west, where most evangelicals live.” The rest of the country will just have to wait.