Actor Greg Kinnear is in negotiations to star in the movie adaptation of Todd Burpo’s runaway best-selling book, Heaven Is for Real, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
Published in November 2010, Burpo’s account of his young son Colton’s near-death experience of heaven has sold more than 8 million copies in the past two years. Translated into more than 30 languages, Heaven Is for Real has spent more than two years on the New York Times Paperback Nonfiction best-seller list, including 17 consecutive weeks ranked at No. 1.
Kinnear would play Todd Burpo, a small-town pastor in Nebraska. Kinnear’s acting credits include The Last Song and As Good As It Gets, which garnered him an Oscar nomination for his supporting role. His brother Steve Kinnear is a business manager with the Billy Graham Training Center.
Randall Wallace—who wrote the Academy Award-winning film Braveheart and directed Secretariat—is directing Heaven Is for Real, which will be produced by Joe Roth (Oz the Great and Powerful) and T.D. Jakes—pastor at The Potter’s House in Dallas, best-selling author and co-producer of the movie Jumping the Broom, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
Wallace also wrote the novel The Touch. Heaven Is for Real‘s “true story and message of hope through the eyes of a child has already brought comfort and inspiration to millions,” said Matt Baugher, senior vice president and publisher of Thomas Nelson’s recently resurrected imprint W Publishing Group. “The film will do the same.”
Heaven Is for Real is being overseen at Sony Pictures’ TriStar division, led by DeVon Franklin, author of Produced by Faith: Enjoy Real Success Without Losing Your True Self. No production or release date has been announced for the movie.
