Jennifer Garner to Star in Miracles from Heaven
Film and television star Jennifer Garner has signed on to appear in the theatrical release Miracles from Heaven, adapted from Christy Beam’s 2015 memoir of her daughter’s battle against incurable disease and subsequent miraculous healing.
Some of the same producers from Sony’s Heaven Is for Real have agreed to back this similarly themed film from TriStar, adding to a growing roster of movies geared for a Christian audience. Variety reports that Heaven Is for Real made more than $100 million for Sony last year, making it “one of the biggest faith-based hits of all time.”
The book Miracles from Heaven: A Little Girl, Her Journey to Heaven, and Her Amazing Story of Healing was released by Hachette on April 14.
New Rights Management for NRSV and RSV Bibles
The National Council of Churches announced last week that it is handing over rights management responsibilities for the Revised Standard Version and New Revised Standard Version translations of the Bible to Riggins International Rights Service. Beginning July 1, Riggins International will handle all permissions and excerpt requests for both translations. The NCC continues to own the copyrights.
IVP Author Garth Hewitt Starts U.S. Tour
British Singer-songwriter and InterVarsity Press author Garth Hewitt is touring the United States April 29 through May 17, with stops in Tennessee, North Carolina, California, and New Mexico. Hewitt is the author of Occupied Territories: The Revolution of Love from Bethlehem to the Ends of the Earth, published in September, which “recounts stories from a network of community projects around the world to raise awareness of and provide support for those working toward liberation, and to address the root causes of injustice and poverty,” according to IVP.
Awards Roundup
Julie Klassen won the Minnesota Book Award in the Genre Fiction category for her book, The Secret of Pembrooke Park (Bethany House). Previously, Klassen won three Christy Awards in Historical Romance and was a finalist for a RITA.
In other news from Bethany House, Romantic Times announced its 2014 Career Achievement Winners and Reviewers’ Choice Awards. Lauraine Snelling received the Career Achievement Award in the Inspirational category, and Lisa Wingate won the Reviewers’ Choice Award in the Inspirational Suspense category for Wildwood Creek.
The Baker Academic title The Church According to Paul by James W. Thompson received the 2015 Book of the Year Award from the Academy of Parish Clergy. Deuteronomy: a Theological Commentary on the Bible by Deanna Thompson (Westminster John Knox) won for Best Reference Book of the Year.
The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association Sales Achievement Awards were presented May 5 at the ECPA Leadership Summit in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Diamond Awards for sales of 10 million + went to The Five Love Languages (Moody Publishing), Jesus Calling (Thomas Nelson), and Heaven Is for Real (Thomas Nelson).
The 2015 Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year Awards, which honor books produced by publishers with annual revenues of $400,000 or less, were awarded in April, with winners in thirteen categories for "outstanding contributions to Christian life."
