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The producers of Left Behind have decided to do film distribution backwards: they began releasing the film on video yesterday, four months before its February big-screen release. But is this a sign of their confidence in the film, or a sign that the numbers don't support a nationwide release in theaters just yet? "The video release is really about giving people a chance to see what it is they're going to support, and then to mobilize it for the Feb. 2 release," producer Peter Lalonde told The Ottawa Citizen. Video cassettes include coupons to buy theater tickets for reduced prices, but a big part of the marketing strategy for Left Behind is getting church groups to sponsor a theater. So far, 400 screens are committed to show the film in its first weekend. Left Behind is based on a best-selling series of books about the apocalypse by Tim F. LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. The books' authors have seen the film, and Jenkins said, "I liked it a lot." Will audiences who have faithfully consumed the series in print feel the same?

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October (Web-only) 2000, Vol. 44