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The Prodigal was intentionally evangelistic, but the LB films aren't as blatantly evangelistic. So, explain the thinking behind the film's release as a series of "outreach" events.

Lalonde: On the first two movies, we had third parties who moved us away from the evangelism a bit.

Peter (second from left) and Paul Lalonde on the set

What "third parties"?

Lalonde: I would rather not name them, but they believed the objective should be to widen the audience by making the gospel more subtle and thereby more appealing to mainstream audiences. I do understand the desire to make sure we are not preaching to the choir, but I also believe that has to be balanced with confronting our culture with the gospel. Cloud Ten, because of my personal history, has a vision for evangelical films. Perhaps that great cultural crossover movie that wins souls in another way is out there, but I have not seen it yet.

But now we are solely in control [of content]. When we did our deal with Sony, we demanded and got full creative control. So, with World at War, you will see a more evangelistic film. The budget [provided primarily by Sony] is bigger, the effects are at studio level now, and it is probably the most entertaining Christian film to date, but I am not here just to entertain.

Will a non-Christian who hasn't read the books have a clue what's going on?

Lalonde: I think this is a more entertaining film because it is not clear at every second what is going on, but the answers do reveal themselves. And yes, we start the film with a voiceover by Lou Gossett Jr. that tells the backstory to get the audience up to speed.

Tell me how the idea came about, to roll it out to churches rather than theaters. Talk about not just the spiritual reasons, but any practical/financial reasons as well.

Lalonde: Tribulation Force had had a small theatrical and church release, and that's where this church release idea was first born. When we were speaking to churches about Tribulation Force, I realized how desperately we needed the return to the "church film nights" of the early '80s. I sensed a hunger there. I also began to see the exploding technology in the churches that made it possible.

Doing something new for the sake of it being new is seldom worthwhile. But spotting an open door—an opportunity—and doing something new, something that makes sense, captures people's imaginations. There is this mystique about a theatrical release, but the fact is that most films lose millions—and most Christian films open on so few screens as to serve no real purpose. We are not trying to "go Hollywood." We make soul-winning movies.

The first film opened in 867 theaters and earned $2.1 million on opening weekend and $4.2 million overall in its theater run. Since your production and marketing costs were over $20 million, how did those low numbers feel?

Lalonde: We were a little disappointed at the theatrical release. But, we were asking theaters to do something they had never done before. We were asking them to play a movie that was already out on video. So we ended with poor screens in poor locations. But we sold more than 3 million units at video, and we were able to recover our costs, and then some.

Were the dollar figures from the first film the sole determinant of whether Cloud Ten would make more LB movies?

Lalonde: We are a small company, and we had mortgaged everything on the film. If we hadn't succeeded, we would have not likely had the means to make more. So there are both business realities and spiritual desires. The good news is that we now are in a position where we plan to make two per year.

Bigger budget, bigger explosions

What are your hopes for opening weekend for World at War—financially, philosophically, spiritually? How long will it play in churches? Is it just a one-weekend deal?

Lalonde: We are calling it a box office counted in souls. We will not ask churches for total numbers of attendees. The number we will report to the press on the following Monday are the number at the altars—those who actually come to Christ. And yes, it is only a one-weekend release, although many churches are having multiple screenings. The DVD will release on October 25.

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Related Elsewhere:

Left Behind: World at War	Printer view