It sounds like a case of strange bedfellows. Or, one might proclaim, a potential mismatch.
The faith-based feature film shot in the Elgin area this spring by a branch of Elgin’s Harvest Bible Chapel will be brought to its audience by the movie and TV branch of the WWE professional wrestling conglomerate.
WWE Studios announced Wednesday that it has acquired worldwide rights to “The Resurrection of Gavin Stone,” the faith-based comedy with a point that was filmed by Harvest’s new Vertical Church Films subsidiary in May and June. Directed by the megachurch’s media director, Dallas Jenkins of Elgin, it stars Brett Dalton from TV’s “Agents of SHIELD” as a washed-up former child star who returns to his hometown, gets into trouble with the law and is sentenced to community service. To satisfy the court, he pretends to be a Christian so he can play the role of Jesus in a megachurch’s Easter play. Meanwhile, he ends up bonding with other members of the church and trying to reconcile with his widowed, estranged father, who is played by Neil Flynn from TV’s “The Middle.”
“Along the way, he reconnects with his past and builds upon his faith to discover that his most important role is far away from the shining lights of Hollywood,” WWE’s press release says.
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The film was shot over four weeks inside Harvest’s main campus along Randall Road in Elgin, at the church’s media studio on Aurora’s far west side and at several outlying locations, including a home on Elgin’s southwest side and places in South Elgin and Geneva.
When the deal was announced Wednesday and Thursday by the show-business press and pro-wrestling bloggers, some writers expressed surprise about those two groups working together.
“There are a lot of words that can be used to describe the movies produced by WWE Studios, but ‘inspirational’ wouldn’t be one of them,” wrote Nathan Birch on the blog Uproxx.com, an entertainment website. “Up until now, horror movies and rejected ‘Die Hard’ sequel plots have pretty much been WWE’s bread and butter, but that changes with ‘The Resurrection of Gavin Stone.’
“Yes, the company run by a man who once booked himself over God himself in a tag match is now in the faith-based movie business,” Birch wrote, referring to WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon.
WWE is a Connecticut-based New York Stock Exchange-traded company whose legal name is World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. According to IMDb.com, WWE Studios has produced more than 40 movies since 2003, including many wrestling films, the 2004 remake of the action drama “Walking Tall,” 2009’s action drama “Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia” and last year’s holiday comedy “Jingle All the Way 2.” But IMDb says WWE has distributed only five movies, the most recent being last year’s horror film “See No Evil 2.”
But wrestling columnist Kevin Eck noted on sportsblog.com that there is one natural link between the movie and WWE wrestling. One of “Gavin Stone’s” co-stars is former wrestler Shawn Michaels. Former pro wrestlers Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Terry “Hulk Hogan” Bollea also developed A List careers as actors after leaving the ring, though WWE severed its ties with Hogan just last week after he admitted using racist slurs in a sex video.
“I’ve said for years that I think Michaels could be a successful actor,” Eck wrote. “I don’t think any pro wrestler was more believable than Michaels when it came to conveying emotion on the microphone and in the ring. Michaels demonstrated the ability to make us laugh or cry and love or hate him.”
“We’re excited to combine resources with a dynamic company like WWE on such a funny but meaningful project,” Fred Adams, Harvest Bible Chapel’s executive business pastor, said in the WWE press release.
Jenkins directed the Hollywood faith-based film “What If?” before he joined Harvest’s staff. He was on vacation and did not return requests for comment. But the press release quotes him saying that “Gavin’s story is such an entertaining one to tell because the ‘fish out of water’ aspect is so relatable, no matter what the setting.”
“It is a privilege to be working with the Harvest Bible Chapel and Vertical Church Films, as they share our understanding of the importance of a strong foundation for storytelling,” WWE Studios President Michael Luisi said in the press release. “‘The Resurrection of Gavin Stone’ is a heartwarming tale of faith and redemption that will allow us to continue growing our audience as we expand into new genres.”
Without announcing any specific release date or venue for the movie, Luisi said that “WWE Studios will leverage WWE’s extensive platforms from weekly TV shows, including WWE’s flagship programs ‘Monday Night Raw’ and ‘SmackDown,’ digital, social media and WWE Network, to market the title.”
Jenkins said in June that he expected the film to have at least a limited release in theaters in spring 2016, followed by sales to DVD, streaming and/or cable TV.
The director wrote on his Facebook page Wednesday that he still expects the movie to be screened at a premiere in some Elgin-area location.
“The Resurrection of Gavin Stone” was written by California screenwriter Andrea Nasfell (“Moms’ Night Out”). It also co-stars Anjelah Johnson-Reyes (“Moms’ Night Out”) and D.B. Sweeney (“Suits,” “24”).