Hillsong's highly anticipated feature film "Let Hope Rise" will showcase the spectacular performances of the Australia-based band Hillsong UNITED while they share their journey towards success.
It is directed by Michael John Warren, best known for his work on Jay Z's "Fade to Black," and will be distributed by Pure Flix, according to a press release.
The film will navigate through Hillsong UNITED's humble roots—singing inside a tiny church in the Sydney suburbs—and share how the group became one of the most sought-after Christian worship bands today. In fact, their songs are now being sung every Sunday by more than 50 million people all over the world.
Their songs have even been translated into 60 different languages, and their albums have sold more than 17 million copies.
"'Let Hope Rise' is so much more than a film about a Christian band or even a church. It is truly a theatrical worship experience," said Michael Scott, chief production officer and a founding partner of Pure Flix. "It is a dream come true for us, as a studio committed to influencing the global culture, to partner with a church like Hillsong."
Producer Jonathan Bock, on the other hand, is raving about the Christian band's display of humility and sincerity to serve Jesus.
"Anyone who regularly attends a church knows Hillsong's music by heart. That's how influential they've become. And yet, despite the fame and adulation, they're still just a humble worship band trying to do what tens of thousands of other worship bands try to do every week—glorify God through their music. How they balance that is a fascinating and surprising story," he says.
For his part, Hillsong Church's founding pastor Brian Houston is excited to tie up with Pure Flix, which he considers as "the No. 1 producer of faith films in the U.S."
"It's our hope that by sharing an up-close and unvarnished look inside our music and lives, we can shatter pre-conceived notions of what it means to follow Jesus in today's modern world," he says.
"Let Hope Rise" will be released in theatres on Sept. 16, 2016.
