Exclusive: Sony VP DeVon Franklin Talks Heaven Is For RealPosted by Wilson Morales
April 14, 2014
Coming out this week is HEAVEN IS FOR REAL, which brings to the screen the true story of a small-town father who must find the courage and conviction to share his son’s extraordinary, life-changing experience with the world.
Based on the #1 New York Times best-selling book of the same name, the film stars Academy Award nominee and Emmy award winning actor Greg Kinnear as Todd Burpo and co-stars Kelly Reilly as Sonja Burpo, the real-life couple whose son Colton (newcomer Connor Corum) claims to have visited Heaven during a near death experience. Colton recounts the details of his amazing journey with childlike innocence and speaks matter-of-factly about things that happened before his birth … things he couldn’t possibly know. Todd and his family are then challenged to examine the meaning from this remarkable event.
DeVon Franklin, Sr. Vice-President of Production for Columbia TriStar Pictures, oversaw the project for the studio. As an ordained preacher, the studio exec helped promote the film towards the faith-based market. As one of the youngest in that position, Franklin also oversaw the productions of the remake of The Karate Kid and Sparkle, and worked on The Pursuit of Happyness, Hancock, Not Easily Broken, and Jumping the Broom. The latter two were both produced by his Bishop T. D. Jakes
In speaking with Blackfilm.com, Franklin discusses his involvement with ‘Heaven is for Real,’ getting it out to audiences through theaters, and being one of the few Blacks in his position.
How did the story go from book to film?
DeVon Franklin: It really started with the book. Joe Roth sent us the book and really fell in love with the book and the story and the author of the book Todd Burpo, who is also the father of the young boy that the story is about. I really Bishop T.D. Jakes and I called him up and told him we have a chance to get this incredible and does he want to come in on it. Bishop had already met Todd from years before and so he read it and loved it, and we partnered and acquired the rights and started developing the script. It was all motivated by the story. It was so empowering and that was the main driver of the reason to do it. As we bought the book and started to develop for film, it became a #1 best seller for like a 100 weeks or some astronomical figure like that. The story resonated with a wide audience.
Not all successful novels translate to box office hits. What do you think will be the driving force to get audiences to see this film? Was releasing the film during Easter weekend always the goal?
DF: We spent a lot of time discussing when to release it. To me, it was always a no-brainer to release it around Easter and Joe Roth and the team agreed. What better way to celebrate the Easter season than a film that’s a celebration of faith, a celebration of family, and a celebration of love. It really felt organic and this movie has a spiritual power to it.
We’ve seen a lot of faith based films lately in theaters from ‘Son of God’ to ‘Noah.’ What do you think is propelling studios to go this route?
DF: Here’s the thing. It wasn’t planned. I think that each studio had their own reasons for releasing a film this year. It wasn’t like there was a committee decision where every studio got together and said, “This year we’re going to distribute all these films.” I think the interesting thing that to a certain extent it wasn’t planned, but what I love about it is that I think it’s more interesting to the audience. Studios can make movies all day long but it doesn’t mean that that there’s an audience that will go see them. What the audience is saying is that, “We want more.” It’s the audience that’s consistently showing up to the films. What I love is that the movie-going audience is finally standing up and saying, “We want more content that can inspire us. We want more content that reaffirms our faith.” I’m Christian and have been on the studio level for 10 years, including my time at MGM. I’ve always believed and known that there’s an audience out there that’s under-served. To be in the trenches in this way, it’s really exciting to see all the films that’s coming out and the audience is responding. I’m very confident that ‘Heaven is for Real’ will be another one in the success story about movies dealing with faith.
How were you touch by the book and film? Were there any differences?
DF: Personally, I was just captivated by what Colton saw and how he saw it. Just the whole story of him meeting his great-grandfather is amazing because he died over two decades before he was born. That was just a heartwarming story. When I read the book, I had lost my grandfather two years before and it just resonated in a very deep way. The movie is very faithful to the book. There are some things that we had to take some creative license with but we and Randall Wallace, who directed the film, did a real good job in making sure that the essence and the truth of their journey was preserved in the same way as in the book.
While we’ve seen our share of Black producers gaining some attention in the news with films that are doing well at the box office, you’re included in a rare amount of Black studio executives? Why so?
DF: I think it speaks for itself. It’s not good enough. It’s very alarming, but I’m not the only one. There are others. Fox has two, Disney has one, and Universal has a few, but in total, not nearly enough. We have to do better. Every studio should make a commitment about diversity, which is important and good business. The audience for all film is diversified and it’s really important for those behind-the-scenes to represent the person.
You were part of the Karate Kid reboot, and with the announcement of the sequel going ahead, will you be back?
DF: Yes. We just hired Breck Eisner and we’re really excited about it. This is long overdue. Jackie (Chan) is ready to go. Jaden (Smith) is ready to go, and we’re just going to do a quick patch on the script and get going on that.
Is Taraji P. Henson coming back?
DF: Yes. I hope so.
With Universal bringing back the ‘Best Man’ crew back and Ice Cube talking about bringing back the ‘Barbershop’ team for a third film, is there any chance that Sony will get Will Smith and Martin Lawrence back for another ‘Bad Boys’ film?
DF: You know, a script is in development. I think it’s always going to be about the script. It’s something that everyone is interested in doing, and it ultimately will come down to the script and time. There’s a lot of interest is trying to figure it out.
Come April 16, what’s a good reason to see ‘Heaven is for Real?’
DF: First and foremost, it’s a great movie. It’s a great movie you can take your whole family to and this film will uplift you and inspire you in a way that very few films can.
