More than two decades after Flywheel launched the filmmaking ministry of Alex and Stephen Kendrick, the brothers are returning to the story that started it all.
Flywheel: Ignition of the Soul, a Brazilian reimagining of the Kendricks' 2003 debut, will hit U.S. theaters Oct. 16. Set in Rio de Janeiro and originally filmed in Portuguese, the movie follows Noah Silva, a used-car salesman whose pursuit of success begins damaging his business, marriage and relationship with his son.
Kendrick told The Christian Post that revisiting Flywheel offered the chance to improve on the modest production values of the original while investing in a new generation of Christian filmmakers.
The project grew out of the success of The Forge in Brazil, where the Kendricks later traveled to train roughly 65 aspiring filmmakers. When the group asked whether they could make a movie together, Kendrick said Flywheel immediately came to mind.
But for Kendrick, the remake is also another reminder that Christian filmmakers have to resist making their work about themselves.
At the heart of the film is the question of who is really in control. Noah gradually realizes that his marriage, fatherhood, career and friendships cannot revolve around his own ambitions.
Kendrick said the same lesson applies personally.
"Releasing control, releasing your hope in anything else, and putting that solely in the Lord is very difficult," he said.
That message carries extra weight coming from a filmmaker whose credits now include Facing the Giants, Fireproof, Courageous, War Room, Overcomer and The Forge.
Twenty-three years after a tiny church-made movie unexpectedly reached millions, Kendrick is returning to where it all began with a familiar warning: Christian filmmakers may gain an audience, but they cannot let success become a pursuit of their own glory.
