Purpose-Driven Life: The Movie?

From a Christianity Today interview with Ralph Winter--not the missions guru, but the Christian producer of films like X-Men, Planet of the Apes, etc:

Since The Passion of The Christ, there's been so much press about how Hollywood "learned a lesson" about audiences and Christian-themed material. Do you think we really will see things change?

Winter: I think studios will say, "Oh, I think we can do this!" and try to unleash every cheesy little thing they can do. The TV show Revelations seems like a clear jump-on-the-bandwagon thing. The studios clearly see it as a marketing opportunity. That's why this Purpose-Driven Life project is so interesting.

What The Purpose-Driven Life project? Are you making it into a movie?

Winter: Rupert Murdoch [of 20th Century Fox] comes to us and says, "Let's make it. I'll fund it."

How are you going to turn this non-fiction, inspirational volume of life principles into a movie?

Winter: You've got to create a story. Think Grand Canyon—that's probably a good place to start. Find disparate stories that converge and illustrate [one or two of the] principles, find good characters.

That's why I'm a fan of doing a small movie, getting a couple million dollars, and get out there and try an experiment, put our toe in the water with this. If [the first Purpose-Driven movie] works, well, you've got 39 films to make, or 12 more principles, or however many you want.

There are some who are worried about getting a big theatrical release. But let's write the script first, and let's see what that tells us about how big or how small it will be.