Despite Hollywood’s advice to independent filmmakers Jon and Andrew Erwin, popular demand proved naysayers wrong. Box Office Mojo reports “October Baby” ranked No. 8 last weekend and the brothers are expanding theater distribution this weekend.
As WND reported prior to the pro-life movie’s opening weekend, a Hollywood studio executive told the brothers: “You’ve proven that you can make a feature film. But we won’t touch this subject because it’s hard to pitch around at the cocktail parties. Sell this one off cheap, get whatever you can, let’s move on to the next one and then we’ll talk.”
“October Baby” is about 19-year-old Hannah (Rachel Hendrix) who’s shocked to find out that she was adopted after surviving an abortion attempt. Against her parents’ (John Schneider and Jennifer Price) wishes, Hannah goes on a spring break road trip with her friend Jason (Jason Burkey) to find her birth mother and ask why she was unwanted.
“I’m not afraid of being typecast with this film because the way that the argument [on life versus abortion] is presented in this film is very much passionately how I see the issue, and Jon as well,” said Andrew. “What we tell people is that the movie isn’t about abortion. It’s about forgiveness and healing, but the context is an abortion survivor and we’re very comfortable with that.”
The Erwin brothers thank everyone who saw their film on opening weekend:
But there’s even more to the story.
All too often the Catholic Church, her teachings, saints and sinners are misrepresented, mocked or just plain lied about in movies, TV programs and music videos. Yet the Erwin brothers pay homage to the Catholic Church, and Andrew explained why.
“We were raised Christian, we’re Protestant, both of us go to more of a Baptist-affiliated church.
“But in our film, one of the beautiful scenes happens in a cathedral and that was intentional because of the beauty of the historical church – how that set it in a much grander context than we could have anywhere else; but, secondly, because I’ve always admired the amazing leadership that the Catholic Church has had, especially on life issues. I think they’ve championed the cause of life in such a beautiful way that I have a deep respect for that.
“The Catholic Church has always championed the place of Christianity and the arts,” he continued. “And historically throughout the Catholic Church you see the beautiful place that art has played in it. I think Christians in recent years have given up that territory.”
John Schneider praised the Erwin brothers as artists and called “October Baby” “gorgeous.”
Thus, Andrew explained, “So if you talk about the quality of ‘October Baby,’ our desire is to reclaim that. We want to produce quality that’s on par with other artistic endeavors and we feel like that deserves our best. And I think the Catholic Church has represented that very well over the years.”
Andrew believes all Christians can and must unite in the noble cause of protecting the fundamental human right to life.
“As Protestants and Catholics, are there places and times to discuss differences?” he inquired. “Sure, that’s fine. But there are things that we can unite over and come together as Christians and this is definitely one of those.”
The “October Baby” trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&NR=1&v=3cBt6t8VV_Q
