Lionsgate have released the initial trailer for The Shack, the movie adaptation of William P Young's best-selling Christian novel. Stuart Hazeldine's film, which releases in the US on 3 March 2017, stars Sam Worthington as Mack, a bereaved father searching for answers, and Octavia Spencer as one of the three mysterious strangers who enter his life at the point of his deepest grief.
Subtitled 'Believe', the official trailer sets up the story, showing Mack as a man totally broken by his loss. He then receives an unexpected invitation to visit the eponymous 'Shack', where he meets the trio – or rather, Trinity – of characters who'll help him to process his pain...
While The Shack novel divided readers, with some more conservative Christian leaders denouncing its unorthodox theology, hopes are high that the film will be embraced as a resource by the whole church. To that end, a website designed to engage and resource churches in talking about and watching the movie has already launched at www.cometotheshack.com. The site contains downloadable resources and promotional materials, all geared around getting churches to organise evangelistic group bookings.
With high production values and considerable talent involved, the film has the potential to go where few faith-focused films have gone before and genuinely engage mainstream audiences with a story about theology and the Christian God. That's certainly the view of Houston megachurch pastor Bishop Ira V Hilliard, quoted on the film's site as saying "Hollywood finally got it right. This movie will preach all day long!" After so many faith-based films have bombed outside the safety of the church market, director Hazeldine will be hoping he's managed to retain the novel's breakout appeal as it hits an even larger audience.
Martin Saunders is a Contributing Editor for Christian Today and the Deputy CEO of Youthscape. Follow him on Twitter @martinsaunders.
