More Rupture Than Rapture

The screen version of the biggest Christian book series is suffering from a case of high expectations

BY: Steve Rabey
Religion News Service

One of the most surprising publishing stories of the last five years has been the phenomenal success of the "Left Behind" books, a series of seven evangelical novels about the biblically prophesied end times that has racked up sales of nearly 20 million copies.

But back in 1997, when co-authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins were negotiating the sale of rights for a "Left Behind" movie, the initial books in the series had sold fewer than 100,000 copies.

The books' eventual success has helped spur disputes and legal battles between people involved in "Left Behind: The Movie," which goes on sale in video stores Oct. 31. And some of these behind-the-scenes tensions pack more dramatic wallop than the film itself.

There have been long-running disputes between the authors and Namesake Entertainment, a Louisville, Ky.-based company that originally bought the film rights, and Cloud Ten Pictures, a Christian film production company based in Toronto. These disputes cover the typical industry issues--script, budget,stars, technical quality and sequels--as well as a controversial marketing plan that will see the movie being sold on video and DVD three months before its scheduled theatrical release.

The authors have asked that their names not appear on the video or any related promotional materials. And things escalated in July, when LaHaye filed suit in the Los Angeles County superior court against Namesake and Cloud Ten, charging breach of contract and demanding unspecified damages. "If you were talking about something that wasn't worth anything, people wouldn't worry about disagreements and fuzziness in the contract," said Los Angeles entertainment and intellectual property attorney Christoper Rudd, who represents LaHaye, "but now every comma and period take on real significance."

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