A new faith-based film that was slated to be released in March 2026 is coming to screens earlier than expected.
I Can Only Imagine was released in 2018 and the sequel was originally set to be released March 20, 2026 but has since been moved up a month to February 20, 2026.
The original film follows the powerful true story of MercyMe front man, Bart Millard, played by John Finley. The first movie followed his troubled past as well as his father's transformation through faith, ultimately inspiring the creation of the song, "I Can Only Imagine," the bestselling Christian single of all time.
The sequel will focus on the success MercyMe saw following the release of the song.
Producer Kevin Downes says he is excited to bring the story to the big screen. "The song that we focus on starts with 'Imagine,' so you're going to get all the feels of the height of 'I Can Only Imagine' when it was released. And then the song, it ends up tracking is their second biggest hit, which was called 'Even If.' I love the script — there are so many entry points character-wise into it."
"Even If" is another deeply personal song for Millard, as it was inspired by his families experience with his son's illness and deeply shaped the band's music and ministry.
"My son, Sam, is 15-years-old, and he's been a diabetic since he was 2. When you're a parent of a child with any kind of chronic illness, these things don't go away. You have a lot of good days, but some days you feel like you're losing bad. I was in the midst of one of those bad days when 'Even If' was written," Millard said on Facebook in 2017.
The team, including director Andy Erwin, states that Kingdom Story Company wants to create films that highlight hope and redemption, not just for Christian audiences but mainstream audiences too.
“Redemption is at the core of everything we do; it has to be about the idea of redemption that promotes hope,” he said. “I think those are the stories that, for us as people of faith, really speak to us, but they also invite an outside audience to really understand what we believe. We've tried to find different varieties of that kind of story.”
The cast includes Milo Ventimiglia, Arielle Kebbel, Joshua Bassett, Sophie Skelton and Sammy Dell, alongside returning stars Trace Adkins and Dennis Quaid.