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Nicolas Cage to Get 'Left Behind' in Christian Rapture Series Reboot

by Ben Pearson
October 19, 2012
Source: Variety

The Left Behind book series, launched in 1995 with Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins' first novel, was a massively successful 16-volume series centering around the Christian belief of the Rapture. It told the story of what happened to those left behind after Jesus Christ returned to Earth and brought all Christians to heaven, following a group of people who eventually become believers and form a worldwide network to oppose the Antichrist, who rises to power in the years following the Rapture. It inspired a low budget film series starring Kirk Cameron, but now Variety reports Nicolas Cage is in talks to lead a franchise reboot.

Cage is no stranger to spiritual films, having starred in Alex Proyas' Knowing and alongside Meg Ryan in City of Angels. Plus, don't forget he made a deal with the devil in the Ghost Rider franchise. All this begs the question: who will Cage actually play in the Left Behind reboot? Could he be the converted pilot protagonist, Rayford Steele? Or will he be the slick-talking Romanian Nicolae Carpathia, the Antichrist himself? With Cage's bizarre career choices in recent years, we're guessing anything is possible.

Left Behind will be the first film project out of the gate for rookie company Stoney Lake Entertainment, and it'll be produced and co-written by Stoney Lake founder Paul Lalonde. John Patus, who wrote 2005's Left Behind: World at War, the third entry in the previously existing trilogy, will be the other co-writer here. The project has been given a $15 million budget, which seems small when you consider the post-apocalyptic scope of the books, but the original film had only a $4 million budget and Christian audiences flocked to it. With a bigger star and a bigger budget, Stoney Lake is clearly hoping for a bigger turnout this time around, so we'll have to see if Cage is the only recognizable actor they can secure here.

Filed under Casting, Movie News

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The Truth

Remember last year the 89 yr old preacher claiming the Rapture was going to happen May 21? Nothing happens and then he said "oh, it's going to be Oct 21!" He died shortly before that. This is bullshit! I don't take these things seriously and refuse to let religions brainwash me. I'll enjoy this as a "sci-fi fantasy popcorn flick".
- Craig
  
  When you claim that the Rapture is going to happen and predict a specific date, you're a crazy person. When you claim that the Rapture is going to happen but don't specify a date, society considers you perfectly sane. Makes complete sense...
  - Danimal
    
    I always thought it would be funny if it happened right at the right as the opening credits started rolling for the avengers. THAT WOULD'VE SUUUUUCKED!!
- Guest
  
  Are you saying it's not going to be tomorrow ??!
  - Avi
    
    Today? Omg!
http://twitter.com/EdwardMCurtis Edward Curtis

The notion of "the Rapture" is rejected by the world's largest Christian group, the Catholic Church. The idea arose primarily out of 19th century Dispensationalism.
- http://www.quanahblogs.com/ Quanah
  
  It's just a movie.
Craig

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse than 'Twilight'...
Richie G

It'd make a better tv series than movie, but whatever. cool concept
Korean Man

Nic Cage is so desperate. Bahahahahahahaha
v

rapture (n.):c.1600, "act of carrying off," from M.Fr. rapture, from M.L. raptura "seizure, rape, kidnapping," from L. raptus "a carrying off" (see rapt). Originally of women and cognate with rape (v.). Sense of "spiritual ecstasy" first recorded 1620s.
Avi

21 december it will happen!
dreckent

Old religious films had a more general message that could even appeal to atheists (like me). But i have the impression Left Behind will be more in the line of conservative-christian propaganda films like "The Passion of Christ".
Random

Get John Travolta to play the Anti-christ tooo goood Will be there second film together.!
Tom mcLain

He could play the smooth talking, cracker soothing Kenyan with no qualifications!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Johnny-Ward/100002466030200 Johnny Ward

Pretrib Rapture Pride by Bruce Rockwell Pretrib rapture promoters like Thomas Ice give the impression they know more than the early Church Fathers, the Reformers, the greatest Greek New Testament scholars including those who produced the KJV Bible, the founders of their favorite Bible schools, and even their own mentors! Ice's mentor, Dallas Sem. president John Walvoord, couldn't find anyone holding to pretrib before 1830 - and Walvoord called John Darby and his Brethren followers "the early pretribulationists" (RQ, pp. 160-62). Ice belittles Walvoord and claims that several pre-1830 persons, including "Pseudo-Ephraem" and a "Rev. Morgan Edwards," taught a pretrib rapture. Even though the first one viewed Antichrist's arrival as the only "imminent" event, Ice (and Grant Jeffrey) audaciously claim he expected an "imminent" pretrib rapture! And Ice (and John Bray) have covered up Edwards' historicism which made a pretrib rapture impossible! Google historian Dave MacPherson's "Deceiving and Being Deceived" for documentation on these and similar historical distortions. The same pretrib defenders, when combing ancient books, deviously read "pretrib" into phrases like "before Armageddon," "before the final conflagration," and "escape all these things"! BTW, the KJV translators' other writings found in London's famed British Library (where MacPherson has researched) don't have even a hint of pretrib rapturism. Is it possible that Ice etc. have found pretrib "proof" in the KJV that its translators never found? Pretrib merchandisers like Ice claim that nothing is better pretrib proof than Rev. 3:10. They also cover up "Famous Rapture Watchers" (on Google) which shows how the greatest Greek NT scholars of all time interpreted it. Pretrib didn't flourish in America much before the 1909 Scofield Bible which has pretribby "explanatory notes" in its margins. Not seen in the margins was jailed forger Scofield's criminal record throughout his life that David Lutzweiler has documented in his recent book "The Praise of Folly" which is available online. Biola University's doctrinal statement says Christ's return is "premillennial" and "before the Tribulation." Although universities stand for "academic freedom," Biola has added these narrow, restrictive phrases - non-essentials the founders purposely didn't include in their original doctrinal statement when Biola was just a small Bible institute! And other Christian schools have also belittled their founders. Ice, BTW, has a "Ph.D" issued by a tiny Texas school that wasn't authorized to issue degrees! Ice now says that he's working on another "Ph.D" via the University of Wales in Britain. For light on the degrees of Ice's scholarliness, Google "Bogus degree scandal prompts calls to wind up University of Wales," "Thomas Ice (Bloopers)," "be careful in polemics - Peripatetic Learning," and "Walvoord Melts Ice." Also Google "Thomas Ice (Hired Gun)" - featured by media luminary Joe Ortiz on his Jan. 30, 2013 "End Times Passover" blog. Other fascinating Google articles include "The Unoriginal John Darby," "X-raying Margaret," "Edward Irving in Unnerving," "Pretrib Rapture Politics," "Pretrib Rapture Secrets," "Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty," "Pretrib Hypocrisy," "Pretrib Rapture Secrecy," and "Roots of Warlike Christian Zionism" - most from the author of "The Rapture Plot," the most accurate documentation on pretrib rapture history. Can anyone guess who the last proud pretrib rapture holdout will be? (Postscript: For another jolt or two Google "The Background Obama Can't Cover Up.") [observed above rapture blast on the net]