Days are counting down until Vanished: Left Behind – The Next Generation premieres on Sept 28. So, let’s review everything we know so far about the upcoming film.
It won’t matter if you have never heard of the Left Behind series, as the movie isn’t based on Tim LeHaye and Jerry Jenkins’ bestselling 16-part novel series. Instead, the film took its inspiration from the Left Behind: The Kids series. Vanished: Left Behind – The Next Generation will take a fresh new look at the characters. The film comes barely two months after co-author Tim LeHaye passed away.
Background
The book series presented the Rapture and Tribulation through the eyes of four young friends: Judd, Vicki, Lionel, and Ryan. As the world falls apart, the friends band together to find faith and fight evil forces threatening their lives. Along the way, the group searches for answers, looking for the truth behind why millions of people around the world suddenly disappeared.
Vanished: Left Behind
While the 2014 Nicolas Cage film and the 2000s Kirk Cameron film trilogy were also based on the Tim LeHaye and Jerry Jenkins Left Behind books, Vanished: Left Behind – The Next Generation will be totally different.
Vanished: Left Behind – The Next Generation covers similar ground to the book. The film stars Amber Frank from Nickelodeon’s Haunted Hathaways as Gabby who must face the challenges of a world when a billion people suddenly vanish. Teen Wolf‘s Dylan Sprayberry and Mason Dye play Josh and Flynn who join Gabby and her sister Claire in trying to figure out the terrible mystery.
Twilight fans, this movie will be for you. Randy LaHaye of Tim LaHaye Productions, said the inspiration behind doing a YA version of Left Behind while watching Twilight.
In a recent interview, LaHaye revealed that Vanished does not follow the storyline of the kids’ series, even though the general themes are still there. “Kids today have no idea what the Left Behind series is all about,” he said. “They haven’t read the books. They’re not familiar with the brand… So I thought: Why don’t I just do a fresh young modern version of Left Behind and reintroduce this concept in an exciting way to a new generation of followers and fans? That’s how the idea came about.”
What Is The Rapture?
The event at the center of the film is taken from the Christian belief that at the end of days, people who are considered true believers in Christ are taken to heaven, while the rest of the world prepares for Judgment Day. Can you imagine what would happen if millions of people just disappeared? The trailer gives a bit of a glimpse of that; total chaos.
Vanished will screen for one night only in over 800 movie theaters across the U.S. To find out additional information on the film, and to find theaters near you, check out the film’s official site.
