In the face of some sharp criticism, Pure Flix Entertainment founder David A.R. White is choosing to focus on the positive impact of the original "God's Not Dead", which raked in over $100 million in the box office.
"All of these emails and tweets and people that have been moved over and over and over by the movie, that they're still watching it. They're still writing in about how this movie changes their lives or changes someone's life that they know," he said of the first movie.
Some critics have suggested the movie is "misleading and full of fake Christian persecution."
White, however, has responded to the criticisms about the film's premise.
In an interview with The Blaze, he addressed negative feedback about the new movie and said simply: "It's an interesting thing, because, if it wasn't real, why do they get so offended by it. I don't think it would annoy people if it wasn't true."
The second movie revolves around the character of Grace, played by Melissa Joan Hart, a high school teacher who gets in legal trouble after she gives an honest answer to a question about Jesus Christ in the classroom.
White explained that both "God's Not Dead," which deals with an antagonistic college professor, and the second movie, which talks about religious freedom, both have solid bases because there are some 50 different real-life court cases dealing with similar issues.
Aside from Hart, television and film actor Jesse Metcalfe will also be joining the cast to play Grace's lawyer Tom Endler, as well as David White and the late US Senator Fred Thompson who plays a senior pastor in the film. Television actress Hayley Orrantia will play the role of Brooke, the student who has lost her brother and who finds comfort in her teacher's message of hope in a private conversation.
The movie comes to theaters on April 1.
