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Colin Welland wrote the screenplay for Chariots. I thought, if I could get him and some other members of the Chariots creative team, we'd have something with a strong identification to commend it to the Christian community. Colin was familiar with Wilberforce's story, calling him "the great Christian reformer who changed the world." I thought, Bingo! He wrote the first draft about four years ago, and it was terrific. He had an extraordinary opening scene . . .

Yes, but Welland didn't end up as the writer. How did you get from him to Steven Knight, who is credited as the writer?

Wales: Well, because the studio people wanted it more "edgy." They had Colin do a second draft, and it still wasn't quite what they wanted, so they wanted to move on to another writer. I was a bit heartbroken, but they moved on to a couple of writers who worked on Sahara, that magnificent roaring success that had twelve writers on it. They made a go at it, and it wasn't satisfactory. By then, time was getting short, because we wanted to release the film in February 2007 because of the 200th anniversary.

We ended up hiring Steven Knight (Dirty Pretty Things), and he put the story idea together as more of a political thriller of behind the scenes, showing how Wilberforce accomplished what he did.

So even though you were disappointed that you couldn't do the Newton film, are you excited about this one instead?

Wales: You bet! I still hope to do the Newton film, but I am thrilled to discover Wilberforce. He has become my personal hero. It shows how God can turn those things around and open up a whole thing in my life. And the movie shows how not one plus God, but God plus one—in terms of Wilberforce—can truly change the world.

It's the 200th anniversary of Wilberforce's bill, but what other reasons is this film relevant now?

Wales: There are more slaves in the world now than at the time when they tried to eradicate the slave trade. Now it's in terms of teenage sex trafficking, things in third world countries that are just despicable. It's just a terrible, terrible problem.

Maybe that's your hook to draw people to see a movie about a guy they've never heard of?

Wales: We hope so. The slavery issue is very important, and we just want to be part of the good resolution of this whole thing. Here's a definition of "entertainment" that I work and live by, and it comes from the earliest Greek definition of the word: "to inform with delight." To me, this movie does that, by entertaining—and creating awareness.

In your career, where does this Amazing Grace rank, satisfaction-wise?

Wales: Right up there with Christy, no question. Christy changed the face of television.

Wales hopes to turn his book into a movie

You've also written a book called Sea of Glory that you hope to turn into a film. What's that story about?

Wales: It's the true World War II story of the four chaplains on the Dorchester who gave up their life jackets to the last four men, prayed together and went down with the ship. The men on the book's cover are George Fox, a Methodist minister; Alexander Goode, a rabbi; John Washington, a Catholic priest; and Clarke Poling, Dutch Reformed—who was also my dad's classmate at Yale.

When I started thinking about making it into a movie, I found out that Warner Brothers had thought about doing it in the 1950s. They had a file in their archives with letters from [co-founder] Jack Warner, who wrote, "This is going to be our biggest film ever, because it's got Protestant, Catholic and Jewish heroes in it." Kirk Douglas was going to produce it and play the rabbi chaplain, and he had signed up three other guys to play the other chaplains—Glenn Ford, Henry Fonda, and Charlton Heston. Can you imagine?

There was even a script by James Webb, who won an Academy Award for writing How the West Was Won. I said, "We'll just film this script!" But when I read it, my heart sank because he just focused on one chaplain—Poling. But this story has to be an ensemble, I'm totally convinced of that. You can't favor one chaplain over the others.

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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.