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Veteran Hollywood producer Ken Wales has long wanted to bring the story of John Newton to the big screen. He intended to call it Amazing Grace, titled after the classic hymn penned by Newton, a former slave trader who had undergone a radical conversion to Christianity.

Eight years ago, Wales approached Philip Anschutz, a billionaire media mogul and devout Christian, about making the film. But Anschutz—who owns Bristol Bay Productions (Ray, Sahara) and Walden Media (Narnia, Bridge to Terabithia)—had a different idea: He wanted a movie about William Wilberforce, the 18th century Christian abolitionist.

Veteran producer Ken Wales

Wales thought Newton's story should come first, since it was Newton who eventually mentored the young Wilberforce. But Anschutz didn't bite. He wanted Wilberforce—and got it.

Wales got to keep his title, Amazing Grace, but the film is Wilberforce's story—with Newton playing a major role. The film, a Bristol Bay Production, opens Friday—exactly 200 years to the day since the abolitionist convinced the British parliament to pass a bill banning the nation's slave trade.

Wales was part of the production team that would hire veteran director Michael Apted (Coal Miner's Daughter, Gorillas in the Mist) and screenwriter Steven Knight (Dirty Pretty Things). Ioan Gruffudd (King Arthur, Fantastic Four) plays Wilberforce, and Albert Finney (Erin Brockovich, Big Fish) plays Newton.

A devout Christian, Wales, 68, counts the likes of Anschutz and Julie Andrews and even Billy Graham among his good friends. He produced 1978's Revenge of the Pink Panther with Andrews' husband, Blake Edwards, and he brought the popular Christy series (starring Kellie Martin) to CBS in 1994.

We recently sat down with Wales to discuss Amazing Grace—and a few other movies he'd like to make in the years ahead.

So, Phil Anschutz convinced you to do a Wilberforce movie instead?

Ken Wales: Yes. When I mentioned John Newton, Phil said, "Why him?" I said, "It's the most popular hymn; everybody sings 'Amazing Grace.' And the lyrics are exactly what happened to John Newton; it is his life!"

The Newton story had always fascinated me, but the difficulty of telling a story about a life is you get into the rut of bio-pic movies—the standard linear telling of he was born here, he did this, he got married, this happened, he found faith, he accomplished this, and then we have nice epithet. But the way you really try to zero in on a film is to find that portion in a person's life where the change takes place—where the problem to be solved is very clear . . . and then he proceeds to solve it, and there's an ultimate victory. Audiences love that ultimate victory. They also want redemption; even secular audiences really want that satisfaction of a redemptive ending.

Well, Newton still has a significant presence in Amazing Grace?

Wales: Yes. He ended up mentoring Wilberforce, and that was good, because he had been to the war, so to speak, through the slave trade. His life was changed by God's intervention, but he was derided by Parliament when he came back to protest the slave trade. For Newton, who had been a slave trader, it was like the fox guarding the chicken house: How would you fix the problem when you were part of the problem? So Newton couldn't get it accomplished as Wilberforce did.

Phil [Anschutz] said he really admired Wilberforce because of his tenacity; he stayed the course and worked diligently with his friends and associates to change the world. He wanted to reform matters, morals and decency.

Ioan Gruffudd plays Wilberforce in the film

But how will you get people to come to a movie about someone they've likely never heard of?

Wales: I knew that would be a struggle. Anybody I've asked, they'd say, "William who? Wilbur? May the Force be with you? Is it something from Star Wars?" I'd get all that kind of stuff. I thought, I'm sure not having much pre-awareness here! What can we do?

I thought if this is going to appeal to Christians, what have they latched on to in the past? What is their standard bearer when it comes to film stories? It's Chariots of Fire, which is really the seminal film in terms of Christians saying, "That's what I feel about my faith; that's how I can stand up for it." It's such a well-made film. And who had ever heard of Eric Liddell before Chariots?

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Related Elsewhere:

A Fantastic Role	Printer view
Ioan Gruffudd, best known for his role as the leader of The Fantastic Four, reprises a bit of history with his latest part, as the Christian abolitionist William Wilberforce in the new film, Amazing Grace.

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'A Man of Principle'	Printer view
That's how acclaimed director Michael Apted describes William Wilberforce, the subject of his latest film, Amazing Grace, which opens this week.