The pro-life Christian film lands a distributor and will start showing in theaters one month from today.
This is a great victory for Unplanned and the Canadian right-to-life supporters who fought to bring the film to theaters there. Back in May, Canada's two main distribution companies rejected the pro-life movie, in effect blocking it completely. That's a move that co-writer/director Chuck Konzelman called "de-facto censorship" in a country that has horrific abortion-on-demand laws.
Despite that state of affairs, there are many Canadians who reject the killing of innocents by their nation's pro-abortion culture and want to see this film. In fact, more than 3,000 of them showed up at a movie theater last month in Edmonton for the only public screening of Unplanned in the country. And pro-life groups that refused to accept the heavy-handed dictate of the film distribution overlords organized a petition drive in favor of the film: it garnered more than 100,000 signatures.
A Canadian TV host and right-to-life advocate, Faytene Grasseschi, also led a boycott of the nation's top theater chain, Cineplex. More than 5,000 people signed up for the on-line campaign. And there was plenty of prayer, too, you can be sure of that.
In the end, Cinedicom, an independent distributor, stepped forward to bring the film to Canadian theaters. Company president B.J. McKelvie says "this is a movie that Canadians want and need to see." A man who, it would seem, is a strong Believer, he made clear that God delivered this victory.
"I complained to God that I was hearing that Unplanned was banned in Canada and I heard His voice loud and clear: 'Why don't you distribute it?' It was a defining moment for me."
Wow, what a powerful quote: three cheers to McKelvie for his faithfulness and courage. And this is a powerful film that his customers will be glad he brought to them.
Unplanned tells the true story of former abortion clinic director-turned-pro-life-advocate Abby Johnson and it has performed well in America, generating $18.1 million in box office revenue despite an active campaign of suppression here. Starring Christian actresses Ashely Bratcher and Robia Scott, it pulls back the curtain on the immoral and moneygrubbing practices of the abortion business in our country. Christian Film Blog will keep you posted on how it performs north of the border now that the attempt at censorship there has failed.