Most of you may not remember hearing about a film called Machine Gun Preacher in December, but it’s back in the news again. Deadline reports that Lionsgate has decided to develop and distribute the film and given them a greenlight to start shooting this summer. Gerard Butler will star as Sam Childers (center), a drug-dealing biker who found God and became the scourge of rebel forces who kidnap children in Africa. Quantum of Solace director Marc Forster is directing this and he has also cast Michelle Monaghan as Childers’ wife and Michael Shannon (The Runaways) as a friend who cared for her while Sam was gone.
The film is inspired by the real-life story of Sam Childers (aka the “Machine Gun Preacher”), who went to Africa in 1998 to build an orphanage to house 300 children. He had to stay there and run an armed militia to protect the kids and thwart other kidnappings by the rebels under the command of Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army. The screenplay is currently being written by newcomer Jason Keller based off of Childers’ own memoir Another Man’s War: The True Story of One Man’s Battle to Save Children in the Sudan. This sounds like an inspirational and interesting story that should make for a great film, especially with Butler leading the way. We’ll be looking forward to hearing more about this as they start preparing for production.