Just a quick note to say that The Inquiry, AKA The Final Inquiry — i.e. the film about a Roman soldier who is sent by Tiberius to investigate rumours regarding the resurrection of Jesus — will not be opening on April 6, AKA Good Friday, after all. The Fox Faith Movies website now says the film is merely “coming soon”.

Fox Faith is releasing The Inquiry, AKA The Final Inquiry, next month. A team of German and Canadian filmmakers is developing The Sword of Peter. And Screen Gems and Tim LaHaye are collaborating on The Resurrection — the release date of which, incidentally, was recently bumped to February 27, 2009.

And now … another film joins the mix! Variety reports:

Making a foray into the faith-based arena, Ashok Amritraj’s Hyde Park Entertainment is producing “Risen –The Story of the First Easter.”

Hyde Park has hired scribe Paul Aiello to pen the script, which will center on the apostle Peter in telling the story of the time between the resurrection of Jesus and the Pentecost. . . .

“Risen” does not yet have a distributor, although Hyde Park has a deal at Fox.

Generally speaking, Hyde Park has turned out mainstream studio fare, including the upcoming Sandra Bullock starrer “Premonition,” which Sony opens Friday. Past pics include “Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story,” “Bringing Down the House” and “Raising Helen.”

Amritraj said the time is right for faith-based entertainment considering the chaotic state of the world.

“And then secondly, clearly, I think there is a commercial marketplace and need for movies that have hope and values,” Amritraj told Daily Variety. “It’s a big deal for us.”

Hyde Park intends to pursue other such projects. . . .

Seems like everyone wants to make a sequel to The Passion of the Christ (2004) these days. Bring ’em on, I say!

Time for a few more quickies.

1. Variety reports that Shia LaBeouf really is in “final talks” to play Harrison Ford’s son in Indiana Jones IV.

2. The Los Angeles Times has an article on the problems that face foreign film directors who make the switch to Hollywood, and Exhibit A is Oliver Hirschbiegel’s The Invasion:

In fact, a number of gifted foreign directors have struggled trying to make the transition to Hollywood. One recent example is Oliver Hirschbiegel, a German director whose “Downfall” received rave reviews and was nominated for best foreign film. Hirschbiegel was hired by Warner Bros. to direct “The Invasion,” a Nicole Kidman-starring thriller based on Don Siegel’s classic “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”

Hirschbiegel shot the movie at the end of 2005, but the studio was so unhappy with the results that it brought in “Matrix” creators Andy and Larry Wachowski to do rewrites and then hired James McTeigue, who directed “V for Vendetta” for the studio last year, to do nearly $10 million in reshoots earlier this year. . . .

Hirschbiegel’s experience on “Invasion” is more complicated. The studio had issues with the movie, one being that it didn’t have enough action. Though the director wouldn’t speak to me, his agents contend the action deficit wasn’t his fault because many of the action scenes were cut due to budget constraints. “It’s not such a big deal,” says Warners chief Alan Horn. “We needed to do reshoots, as is often the case, and Oliver wasn’t available, so we used someone else. I think we’ve had a great track record working with foreign directors — just look at the great work Alfonso Cuarón did on his ‘Harry Potter‘ film — so I’m not so sure these kind of problems have anything to do with nationality or culture.”

3. My colleague Steven D. Greydanus discovered recently that The Miracle Maker (2000), an animated film that just happens to be one of the best recent movies about Jesus — I’ve written about it here, here, and here — was re-issued this week in a new “special edition” that includes an audio commentary by the directors.

4. Jeffrey Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere says The Last Mimzy — a film written and directed by the studio executives at New Line Cinema — is tracking very, very badly, if indeed it is tracking at all. Like, nobody seems to be keen to see it. Why is it doing so badly? Wells speculates that the word “Last” might be one reason:

The use of the word “Last” is bad enough — declaring that anyone or anything is the “last” of anything is recognized worldwide as (a) an unhip screenwriter’s lunge at some kind of half-assed cover-page significance, and/or (b) an old-shoe marketing ploy that lost its snap-crackle in the ’80s. My view is that “Last” was killed off for good with the debacle that was Last Action Hero. The IMDB estimates that 500 movies have used “Last” in their titles, and more than half of them as an adjective. Even New Guinea cannibals and eight year-old kids in Afghanistan are sick of it.

“Last” is half-tenable only if it’s attached to an unusual irony or semi-intriguing condition, such as The Last King of Scotland since the film is not “about” Scottish royalty or castles or kilts but a malevolent Ugandan dictator. But otherwise forget it…”last” equals hackneyed.

This got me thinking about the recent spate of terminal-sounding titles that have been coming out of Fox Faith. The Last Sin Eater and The Ultimate Gift were at least based on books with those titles — but why was The Inquiry re-named The Final Inquiry!?

5. Cinematical notes that a new website, WingClips.com, is now selling “inspirational” movie clips for use in sermons and whatnot.

6. Jeffrey Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere passes on a Times Online story that looks at how actors’ performances are increasingly “improved” in the computer — e.g., in one of Jennifer Connelly’s scenes in Blood Diamond, a tear was digitally added rolling down her cheek. This sort of thing doesn’t bother me all that much — movies are all about illusion, etc. — though I do wonder how it will impact the handing out of awards for best performance, etc.

The newest issue of BC Christian News is now online, and with it, my film column, which looks mainly at Bridge to Terabithia — this section was posted a few days earlier at ChristianWeek — but also touches on the DVD release of Conversations with God and the upcoming theatrical releases of the Fox Faith films The Ultimate Gift and The Inquiry. The paper also includes an edited version of my interview with Terabithia author Katherine Paterson.

This archive is a work-in-progress.

General and related articles:

‘Filmmakers seek to inspire audiences with The Nativity Story,’ BC Christian News, Nov 2006
‘Nativity Story producers, writer look beyond the Christian “niche”,’ ChristianWeek, Nov 2006
‘Mary Goes to the Movies,’ Christianity Today, Nov 2006
‘Ethnicity in Jesus films — does it matter?,’ Mennonite Brethren Herald, Nov 2006

Books and films:

The Nativity Story (dvd)
News: BC Christian News, Apr 2006
Reviews: Christianity Today, Dec 2006

Related blog posts:

‘The Nativity — coming soon to the big screen?,’ Feb 2006
‘Newsbites: Nativity! Evan! Casino!,’ Mar 2006
‘Newsbites: Nativity update! Tsotsi pirated!,’ Mar 2006
‘Newsbites: Nativity! Potter! Terabithia!,’ Apr 2006
‘More details about Nativity!,’ May 2006
‘Nativity gets the “The” back — and more!,’ May 2006
‘Newsbites: Nativity! Omen! Kigali!,’ Jun 2006
‘Catching up on The Nativity Story!,’ Jun 2006
‘Nativity trailer to play before Superman?,’ Jun 2006
‘Newsbites: Anne Rice! Nativity! Compass!,’ Jun 2006
‘Newsbites: Material! Nativity! Clerks!,’ Aug 2006
‘The Nativity Story — featurette no. 2,’ Aug 2006
‘Newsbites: Nativity! Terminator! Von Trapp!,’ Aug 2006
‘Nativity composer Mychael Danna speaks!,’ Sep 2006
‘Grace, Nativity to sneak-peek in Indiana,’ Sep 2006
‘Everybody wants a piece of Antonio Vivaldi,’ Sep 2006
‘Who is the youngest Mary of them all?,’ Sep 2006
‘Newsbites: Atlas! Arabs! Evil! Rex! Immortalist!,’ Sep 2006
‘Depictions of Mary in the Ben-Hur movies,’ Sep 2006
‘The Nativity Story — Gabriel speaks!,’ Sep 2006
‘The Nativity Story — first “theatrical” trailer!,’ Sep 2006
‘Life imitates art (sorta) for Nativity Story star,’ Oct 2006
‘Nativity Story sneak-previews at Outreach,’ Oct 2006
‘Newsbites: Borat! Passion! Abu Ghraib!,’ Nov 2006
‘Newsbites: Nativity! Poledouris! Others!,’ Nov 2006
‘A Catholic, an Orthodox and a Protestant walk into a junket …,’ Nov 2006
‘Looking for a Nativity Story controversy …,’ Nov 2006
‘Time magazine needs a fact-checker.,’ Nov 2006
‘Saint Mary — as seen on Iranian television,’ Nov 2006
‘Variety magazine needs a fact-checker.,’ Nov 2006
‘The Nativity Story — random thought of the day,’ Nov 2006
‘The Hollywood Reporter needs a fact-checker.,’ Nov 2006
‘Hmmm, has The Times plagiarized me?,’ Nov 2006
‘Nativity — Oscar Isaac — bonus quotes,’ Nov 2006
‘Newsbites: Goldfinger! Tintin! Superman!,’ Nov 2006
‘Nativity — Shohreh Aghdashloo — bonus quotes,’ Nov 2006
‘The Nativity Story — banned! and bands!,’ Nov 2006
‘Good enunciation helps good transcription!,’ Nov 2006
‘Commentarybites: Rocky! Nativity! Casino!,’ Nov 2006
‘Nativity — Catherine Hardwicke — bonus quotes,’ Nov 2006
‘The Nativity Story — will it sell tickets?,’ Nov 2006
‘John the Baptist coming to a theatre near you?,’ Dec 2006
‘The Nativity Story places 4th on Friday,’ Dec 2006
‘Newsbites: Nativity! Church Boy! Monastics!,’ Dec 2006
‘How many films have shown umbilical cords?,’ Dec 2006
‘Newsbites: Apocalypto! Nativity! Ten! Camp!,’ Dec 2006
‘Newsbites: Koranic! Reaping! Sly! Gallup! Blood!,’ Dec 2006
‘The Nativity Story — a “very serious setback”?,’ Dec 2006
‘“Putting the Christ back in Christmas”?,’ Dec 2006
‘Did The Nativity Story kill the biblical epic?,’ Jan 2007
‘The Nativity Story — on CD, on DVD,’ Jan 2007
‘The Nativity Story — the first DVD is out today,’ Mar 2007
‘The Nativity Story — an audio commentary,’ Mar 2007
‘Keisha Castle-Hughes has a baby — it’s a girl!,’ May 2007
‘Do Christian audiences not want OT movies?,’ Jun 2007
‘Is the Fox Faith label the kiss of death?,’ Aug 2007
‘It’s The China Syndrome meets Three Mile Island. It’s Wall Street meets the Crash of ’87.,’ Dec 2007
‘No double dipping for The Nativity Story?,’ Dec 2007