Kiefer Sutherland: To End All Wars Directors Cut to Platform in Theaters

TO END ALL WARS DIRECTORS CUT TO PLATFORM IN THEATERS

Sat May 15, 2010

To End All Wars www.toendallwarsthemovie.com is one of the most powerful movies on forgiveness that I have ever seen. I was told about the film a few years back by a friend who said it was one of his favorite movies of all time. It’s the true story of the Allied prisoners during WWII who were forced by their Japanese captors to build the infamous “Railway of Death.” When I saw it for the first time, I, too, was very moved.

While it was available on home video, how did this $16 million movie, based on a true story, starring Keifer Sutherland, never secure a theatrical release? Why had most Christians never even heard about this film, even though it was written and produced by Christians and directed by David Cunningham, the son of the founder of YWAM?

As someone who’s been associated with such hits as Facing the Giants and Fireproof, I know there’s a huge Christian audience eagerly awaiting films that inspire. Yet this amazing movie has managed to somehow elude this same audience. So when David Cunningham came to Mitch Irion, my business partner in WingCinema www.wingcinema.com and myself with his idea for a Director’s Cut, he received our undivided attention.

There was one primary reason for not reaching its target audience — the F-bomb. During one of the most dramatic scenes in the movie, Major Ian Campbell played by Robert Carlyle, unleashes a torrent of emotion that includes multiple uses of the F-word. This, along with a number of Sh*t’s scattered throughout the film, meant that any “traditional” distribution into the Christian (CBA) market would be practically impossible. In addition, it garnered an “R” rating from the MPAA. While it contained some violent images, all of which were appropriate and necessary to realistically depict this true story, the language was the greatest stumbling block in finding its audience through Christian retail stores.

So when David came to us with his idea for a Director’s Cut that adds 6 minutes of never-before-seen footage (most of which features Kiefer Sutherland), and that would seamlessly remove the F-words and other expletives, we were totally onboard with his plan. As a result, Ocean Avenue Entertainment www.oceanave.tv and WingCinema assumed the risk to fund and distribute the Director’s Cut. I say risk because even with the removal of the most offensive language, there is still a high likelihood that this film (which we just sent to the MPAA to be rerated) will still get an “R” rating. You might think that the CBA market would be open to “R” rated films that contain this kind of message after the success of The Passion of the Christ, which was also “R” rated for the violent images, but that has not been the case.

In light of the inherent challenges to reaching our target audience through “traditional” means of distribution into the CBA market, we have devised an innovated “unconventional” distribution strategy. Through WingCinema’s database of over 55,000 churches and schools, we have a new strategic alliance with Freestyle Releasing, a major theatrical distributor. With this partnership, To End All Wars will finally get its much deserved limited theatrical platform this July. This will not be a conventional theatrical release, which can normally cost as much or more than the original production, but it will be offered to churches and schools that prefer the theater as their venue of choice for an event. By working with these churches and schools directly, we expect to mitigate the costly advertising and marketing campaigns that are traditionally required.

WingCinema’s core business is to release inspiring movies and documentaries in churches and schools. However, for churches looking to reach out to their community, instead of trying to woo new people to their church, why not reach out to their local multiplex? For moving films like To End All Wars, it is much less threatening to invite a friend or neighbor, who may never have been to church, to instead, meet them at their local theater.

We are hopeful and excited by this unconventional theatrical/church/school distribution model. We believe this is the key for many of these well-deserving movies and documentaries to finally find their audience. We already have a major studio that will distribute the Director’s Cut on home video, so eventually consumers will be able to either download the movie via Netflix or similar, or purchase the DVD in stores. However, we believe this inspiring film will first connect with its audience through its release by Ocean Avenue Entertainment and WingCinema.

So, look for To End All Wars in a theater near you beginning this August. With this word-of-mouth strategy, we believe this film will find its audience. This will enable it to reach many more people with its powerful message of forgiveness, which was what touched me so deeply when I first saw this movie.

Source: web.me.com