The Eric Metaxas Show - Andy Erwin

Episode Date: December 5, 2021

Filmmaker Andy Erwin offers a preview of "American Underdog," the true story of legendary quarterback Kurt Warner, the new movie opening Christmas Day.  

Welcome to the Eric McTaxus show with your host, Eric Mettaxas. Hey there, folks. Welcome to Hour 2. It follows Hour 1, typically, traditionally. And I'm continuing my conversation with our friend, Tim Barton, president of Wall Builders. Check out Wall Builders.com. Tremendous resource. You were just saying earlier, Tim, a very important point that sometimes gets glossed over,

that the Pilgrims, who arrived in 1620, and meet Squanto in 1621. Squanto helped them to broker a treaty with the native tribes that lasted for 50 years. It is an incomprehensible thing. It's something that should be wildly celebrated. It's just amazing that at the beginning, you want to talk about like, what happened in the beginning? What are our, you know, original sins?

How did it start? It started with 50 years of a, of a, of, a, of, you know, what happened? of a level of peace, comedy between the natives and these pilgrims that, I mean, you could just write a book about that, how amazing it is, that with all the history of difficulty following that, for 50 years, we had this extraordinary peace. Yeah, and it wasn't just in Plymouth either, because if you look at the history of Pennsylvania with William Penn, they had incredible relations with the natives, actually with multiple tribes. if you look at Roger Williams in Rhode Island, if you look at most of the New England colonies, they were founded as religious colonies. And as religious colonies, one of the things that was kind of a foundation in biblical Christianity, and this was something even coming out of the Reformation that was contrary to the king, was they believed in private property. And this was a big deal for them

coming out of the Reformation, because under the king, right, the king thought he owned everything. And so the reformers pointed out that private property was a thing in Scripture, the Ten Commandments, teach us you don't steal, don't even covet with somebody else's. So when these, so many of these religious settlers were coming to America and they were building colonies, they had gotten permission from the king to come and build colonies. So the king had said, I own the land, you go, but they got here, and they discovered there were natives in the land. And they actually requested from the natives that they could purchase land and build their

own settlements there. And they purchased land from the natives at a price agreed to and often even set by the natives themselves. This is where you have a contrast of the difference of some of the New England colonies from the more of the Jamestown era colonies. It's so different. Also, I want to say, who has ever heard this? I mean, all you ever hear, I mean, even forget about 1619 project, all of our lives. I mean, since roughly the 1960s, you hear one narrative. We, you know, the white settlers stole from the Indians, which is mostly true. But you're telling me that at the beginning of everything, there was what looks to me like a biblical respect for other people,

for strangers, and that people said, you know, we're going to treat them honorably. If we're going to be honest about our sins, let's be honest also about our virtues. That's an amazing moment in American history. I don't even know that I have heard that before. Well, and this is where we should just say, let's tell the truth about history and let the chips fall where they may, right? Like when you read the Bible and you read the story of King David, you see a lot of really great moments and you see a lot of really bad moments, but it's just a story of King David. We should just be truthful in the story and tell the whole story the good, the bad, the ugly.

If you look at the story of the reality of most early colonies with most native tribes and native villages, actually the American people largely got along very well with natives up until more of the Jacksonian era. And the Jacksonian era is when you see a major shift in political and government philosophy. a treatment toward the natives where they have land we want. Let's just go take it from them. Let's let's relocate them. Let's put them on reservations. You see a major shift when you have this new Democrat president coming in. He has a different ideology that's not based in a biblical foundation of truth. And so that is part of America's history, but that's not actually where America started. And the vast majority of early colonies, the colonies of New England, had a very great respect for private property and worked very hard to treat the natives very well.

So when, you know, and again, it's important for us to understand how we perceive information. I mean, most of us, when we think about Native Americans and about the crimes, we forget that that's the 19th century. We're talking about the 19th century for a number of decades. But as you're saying, there's a history that goes way before that, way before Andrew Jackson. And again, it's important that we at least know the large. history so that we can't demonize, you know, the white man, the settlers in the way that people seem to want to do today. That's not right.

It's not biblical. It's not historically accurate. But it's sort of in vogue right now, which is why we, you, and I, and everyone else has to push back against things like the 1619 project because it's very harmful, very harmful. Folks, if they're teaching this kind of stuff in your kids' schools or if they're even leaning in that direction. Some church schools are saying, well, we need to give, no, no, we don't, and we ought not to. And I hope that if you go to wallbuilders.com and you do your own research, you'll see this is really dangerous stuff. Be very careful. Yeah, we never need to make space for a

lie. That's a major fallacy that we should make space for a lie. No, we should expose lies. That's part of what children of light are supposed to do is expose the deeds of darkness. So we don't want to make space for this. We want to tell the truth. And the truth is, America's not a perfect nation. America's had many sinful, evil, wicked moments, but the truth also is that a perfect God in this nation showed up and used very imperfect people, but did really special things through them. And that's the true story of this nation of God using people and doing really special things. It's amazing. Now, people go to wallbuilders.com. I want people to understand who you guys are. A lot of people listen to this program, no. But if somebody doesn't, what is it that you guys?

are offering, what do you have? If they go to the main website, what will they discover? Yeah, so as an organization, we have what's considered the largest private collection of original documents from early America. We have actually probably 160,000 things that are part of the whole collection. Probably 120,000 of them are from before 1812. So we actually have original letters and journals and writings from George Washington and John Adam and Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin and these major significant named founding fathers. And so we actually go back to their writings. And instead of listening to what some professor says they actually did or thought or believed. We say, let's just go study their writings to see what they actually said, what they actually wrote.

And so many of those writings are available on the website. We've written many books, done many lectures based on those things. We actually have a book called The American Story, which I'll make a quick plug for, where we just tell a lot of these stories, starting with Christopher Columbus, the discovery of the new world, so to speak, going through roughly the end of slavery in America. And so a lot of people who are being attacked and villainized in America today, when you actually learn their real story, you again, learn. and they're not perfect people, but many of them were very honorable people at a time when there weren't leaders like them doing honorable things, and God certainly used them to do great

things. And so a lot of that information on the find on the website. We're also all over social media. We have a daily radio program. So a lot of information at wallbuilders.com. When did the American story, the book you just showed us, when did that come out? It came out last year, which actually was very providential as we were writing it, which you know as an author, you start writing stuff way in advance before when it actually was released. And it was released shortly after the 1619 project came kind of to full front.

And it was just telling them the true story of Jamestown, of Plymouth, of slavery in America. And the true story is very different than the modern narrative, which, as you've pointed out, is why as Christians, we should be opposing the lies of CRT in the 1619 project.

And listen, there are so many Americans that wouldn't self-identify as Christians or whatever, but they recognize that madness has been unleashed in our country. And they're looking around thinking, is anybody paying attention? Is anybody pushing back? And a lot of times it is Christians,

homeschoolers who are pushing back and saying, listen, we're very happy to own our mistakes. But for the love of Christmas, like, how can you twist everything so that people feel ashamed to be Americans? You've really messed up when you get to that point. So I'm very hopeful. I don't know that we have a copy of the American story here,

but it's just something that I'd love to talk to you about another time. And is there a place where you all are in Texas where people can view these documents or this is just something they can see online? No, absolutely. So we have two facilities where we have a museum where people can come. They have a schedule tour.

So don't just show up. Please call ahead. We have docents and staff that will take people through these artifacts. So one is in Dallas. and one is just west of Dallas and Alito. So they can either go to wallbuilders.com or they can go to Mercury1.org, another nonprofit that we help with,

and they can sign up for a tour at either one of those, Mercury1.org or Wallbuilders.com. Schedule a tour. We would love for people to come see these artifacts and actually be able to hold them first hand. I would love to do that myself. We're going to figure out how to do that.

Tim Barton, my friend, thanks for being on. Thanks for what you guys do. Folks, go to wallbuilders. com. Really important. Thank you, Tim. You're not so down. Hey, folks, do you wish you remembered names better and thought more clearly?

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Hey folks, guess what? Have you heard of the Irwin brothers? So have I. We can only get one of them today. It's Andy. Andy, you've got another film out. This is particularly exciting. I don't know where to start, except to say welcome of the program.

Eric, it's good to be with you, man. And I tried to get my delinquent brother to come along, but he doesn't listen to me anymore. I know. You know what? He's dead to all of us. Albin, he's on that list now. No more. Enough is enough.

You, look, you guys are famous for having done many, many films. But there's something about this new film that I found particularly exciting. And usually what I would do is just sum it up and not give you an opportunity to talk. But I'm trying to change. So tell my audience. audience. What is this film? Really, this is so exciting. I'm just tempted to, you know, tell my audience about this film and when it, first of all, when it opens. Yeah, man, I can listen to you talk all the long, Eric, so you can wax eloquent any time.

You're very nice. Thank you. I'm good. But, yeah, American underdog. It's the Kurt Warner story. And, you know, my brother and I started out at sports cameraman back in the day. And so I remember being on the sidelines of the Super Bowl in 2002 watching Kurt Warner on the field. And there was just something so amazing about his story, you know, of this guy that was, you know, went from being working in a supermarket, trying to support his family out of football for five years. And then finally got his chance to play for the Rams and made it all the way to the Super Bowl.

And ended up being the MVP of the NFL in the year he was the lowest paid athlete in the NFL. And so it's just, I mean, it is the underdog story of all underdog stories, amazing story about family. And it opens on Christmas Day. opens on Christmas Day. Now, I can't see you on the camera. I think that they're going to fix that. I mean, Christmas Day, Andy, Christmas Day, now I can see. Christmas Day is a big deal. For people who aren't in the movie business, and I'm not really, but you certainly are, explain why it's a big deal.

Because look, you and your brother, you know, you've made a lot of films, but it's a new thing when all kinds of theaters across the country, open a film on Christmas Day. Talk about that, because this is a big, it's a great accomplishment that you've done in this film. Yeah, you know, I think the exciting thing is, is like Christmas Day, that's the, that is the Super Bowl for our industry. And that's where, you know, it's the biggest day of the year for, you know, films to open. Everybody, you know, they open presents and they go to the movies together. So it's a huge opportunity. And so for years, Faith film was kind of the red, head.

kind of stepchild for, you know, for the industry, for studios. And for the first time, things that have to do with faith are not seen with that stigma and Lionsgate's giving us every opportunity. We're opening against the Matrix and Spider-Man. So, you know, similar what your book did with Bonhofer, really legitimizing, you know, literature in that way. I think, you know, hopefully American Underdog is a step forward towards really communicating with a broad audience, the hope we find as Christians. you're very kind to bring up my Bonhofer book in that way, but I think that it's always been, the reason I get excited for you and for this film, and again, folks, it's American underdog

is because it's always been, I believe, God's calling on my life to bring the things of God into the mainstream, because everybody cares about truth and God. And, you know, even if you don't know it, we're all made in God's image and we're all longing for these things. And so to kind of relegate it into some religious corner is ridiculous. It's ridiculous just from a financial perspective because you have huge audiences of people that are just hungry for this. But we know that Hollywood has tended to be secular. New York, where I live, tends to be secular. It tends to be populated by people who either don't get this stuff.

They just don't speak this language. Or maybe they're even hostile to it. They hang out with people that are hostile to it. And I just think it's huge. when anything like this breaks into the mainstream because there is such a hunger for it. So tell us the story, again, the title is American Underdog. You've got some huge names in here. I mean, I almost did a double take, but Zachary Levi, he's the young star of this.

So tell us about him first, but then I want to talk about Dennis Quaid and Anna Pequin. Yeah. So for both, you know, for Zachary, Zachary, you know, of course, had a huge breakout hit with Shazam, and he's in that superhero movie franchise and is the star of that. And they just finished Shazam too. And so, you know, but he and I knew each other from 10, 12 years ago. I used to go to a Bible study at his house out in L.A. And he was on a TV show called Chuck that was really popular back in the day.

And so we kind of knew each other in that, you know, venue. but when Shazam was coming out, I saw it was going to be a big break for him in a whole new way. And then for me, you know, it was the same year that we were releasing, I can only imagine, which was our breakout hit. And so we started talking back and forth. And so when we got to this movie, you know, we tried really hard to look for opportunities, like you said,

to kind of connect with people outside the church walls, to really have something that's universally relatable that people can kind of enter the story with, but then an opportunity to kind of plant that seat of Christianity and started in that conversation with people outside the church. And we thought that, you know, an underdog story, a sports story like Kurt Warner, a Hall of Fame quarterback gave that avenue.

So when I was talking one day with Zach Levi on a FaceTime call with each other, and he said, what's this Kurt Warner movie? I keep hearing my name pitched around on it. Everybody says, I look like him. And I said, well, Zach, I wasn't going to pitch you because I know your book for the next three years. He said, well, COVID may have rearranged some things. Let me read the script.

And I'll send him the script, and he texted me back at midnight. So let's make a football movie. And the whole movie just took another trajectory at that point. I was going to say, that's a huge deal. I'm a little too old to be really conversant in the whole superhero genre. I tend to sneer. Don't go by me. That's just me.

But I know that when you mention Shazam, these are huge films. So the idea that this guy is a believer. and is the star of this thing. This is a huge, huge deal. You also obviously have Dennis Quaid in the film. Now, he was in, I can only imagine. I think that's when I met him was when you were launching that film. Yeah, I mean, he's a big, he's a huge deal.

And so I'm thrilled that that he's in this. But how do we pronounce it, Pequin, Pacquine, Anna? Pacquine. Yeah, Anna Pacquine. Anna Pacquin. I mean, for crying out loud, you know, I think of her as being in the piano. I mean, how many years ago was that? I mean, she was nine years old, so that had to been 30 years ago.

So, yeah, it was amazing. Did you say 30? Yeah. That's not really possible. That can't be possible. It's been a while. It's been a while, man. There's been some gray hair added to both since then.

But, yeah, Anna, you know, for, you know, Dennis, of course, I love Dennis. He's kind of like, you know, Michael Kane is to Christopher Nolan. Dennis is going to be to the Irwin brothers. You know, I'll work with him until he gets tired of us. But he plays Dick Vermeal, which is the amazing coach for the Rams, and just disappears in the role. But then when we were looking for who to play Brenda, when Anna, Anna Pac-win, you know, is the youngest Oscar winner in the history of the Oscar.

She was nine years old when she won her Academy Award. But when she beat out Tatum O'Neill, you're telling me? Yeah, exactly. Really? She's right, they're neck and neck. I think they were, you know, close together. Seriously, because that's one of my favorite films of all time. Paper Moon is one of the greatest films ever made.

Bogdanovich is a god, small G. But the idea that I remember when the piano came out, that it was like, oh, here's another nine-year-old going up for the Oscar. So crazy. Yeah, yeah. She was a, you know, talented actress. But when she read the script, she said, she had a call with us, and she said, I love this script.

And she said, I've never interacted with faith at all. I've always done really edgy material. So I've never done anything like this. And she said, do you think that's a problem with me portraying a Christian? And I said, Anna, absolutely not. As long as we can agree on one thing. Can we agree on trying to understand what Brenda's faith meant to her and make that real? And she said, well, that's exactly what I would do as an actress.

I was like, well, then who wouldn't want to work with an Oscar winner? And so she came in, and her first day on set, she was like, I've been reading every book by Brenda Warner. I've watched every one of her women of faith speeches. And she's like, I understand it's more of a relationship than it is a religion. And again, what does that exactly mean? We're having these conversations that were fantastic, phenomenal. She put in her homework and I think really made the faith authentic. Isn't that great?

This is so beautiful. This is all good. This is wall-to-wall good news. Folks, I'm talking to Andy Irwin of the Irwin B. brothers, the new film, which comes out Christmas Day, is American Underdog. Do you know how many theaters that will open in? How are, I mean, in these sort of post-COVID times, I just don't know how much streaming, how much theaters, how much, what's going on?

Well, it's, it's going to be the widest release we've ever had. So it'll be in about 3,000 theaters. So it'll be across the country nationwide. Did you say 3,000? Yeah, it'll be great. What are you doing? doing a show like this. You're a big cheese now. They're opening in 3,000 theaters on Christmas Day. And this guy, in the Spirit of Christ, stooped down to the level of this program. Seriously,

that is fantastic. I almost can't believe it. That is huge news. 3,000 theaters on Christmas day. This is a praise the Lord moment for America and for the entertainment industry. This is a big deal. We're going to be right back, folks. I'm talking to Andy Irwin. The film is American underdog. folks, Eric Metaxis here. Joe Biden and the Democrats have laid out the most socialist agenda our country has ever seen. Instead of following President Trump's blueprint that had the economy booming, the Dems are going to raise taxes, increased regulations, and skyrocket an already outrageous national debt. If your retirement is in traditional investments, it is in jeopardy. Americans should be diversifying their investments with gold and precious metals. Gold gives you control over your wealth and protects you from market volatility, inflation, and a weakening dollar. investing in gold, I turn to Legacy Precious Metals. Legacy Precious Metals has over 40 years of experience in helping Americans protect their finances, and this team is prepared to patiently consider your own personal financial needs. If you're looking to invest in gold, call the good folks at Legacy Precious Metals today at 866 473-6204 or visit them online at LegacyPMinvestments.com. Don't leave your retirement to chance friends. Contact Legacy Precious Metals today. That's 866-473-6204.

I've got good news for you. There is a great film coming out on Christmas Day. It is called American Underdog. It's the story of Kurt Warner. It's a faith film. At the same time, it's just a film film. And we were hoping to get one of the Irwin brothers on. And as you know, they're big deals now.

They're like opening in 3,000 theaters on Christmas Day. They're not going to stoop to the level. And then I realized, no, no, no, no. One of them was willing to stoop to the level of coming on. Andy Irwin, thank you for stooping. Eric, there's no stooping involved. When it's Eric McTaxus, we see eye to eye, and I'm always glad to talk with other storytellers. You can say any nice thing you want.

I'm not going to stop you. But I will know, and Albin can bear me up. I will know that I've really made it in your eyes when you actually cast me in one of these films. You let me disappear into a role the way Dennis Quay just becomes, you know, coach Dick Vermel. Like he just becomes somebody else that someday, Albin. telling you. I don't know what it's going to be, a monster movie or something, but I'm going to be on there doing a Scottish accent or something. I'm looking forward to that day. But to this film, now, for people who don't know the story of Kurt Warner, just give us the nutshell. I mean,

you did briefly before, but give us the nutshell, because it's not really, I mean, it's a football story, but it's not a football story. It's really, it's an American story, I guess. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, and hence the title of American underdog, you know, the idea, for it, it's kind of in the vein of, you know, classic sports movies like Hoosiers, you know, like Rudy, and ultimately kind of one of the biggest inspirations for this film was the original Rocky, is the idea of just the every man, that person that's down on their luck, just can't seem to catch a break. This guy was out of football for five years working at the supermarket, living on food stamps. And ultimately, the main inspiration was, well,

happen at home. Everybody knows kind of the guy on the field, but what they don't know is the strong woman in the stands and her family that really gave him the heart of the champion. And when Kurt Warner was a fifth year senior at the University of Northern Iowa, he just couldn't catch a break.

He had been a bench warmer for four years. He got a chance that he didn't get drafted, got a brief chance with the Packers. But what happened was he fell in love with this woman who was a single mom, former Marine who had a special needs son named Zach. And Zach was blind, and it was through this family and him falling in love with this

family that they gave him the heart of a champion to fight for them. And that's ultimately what led to five years later, him being the MVP of the Super Bowl. So Supermarket in the Super Bowl, it's a legend. And it's funny, too, because there are certain stories. I mean, the idea that this is not fiction. Rocky is fiction. Now, Rocky is a great film. Right.

But it's fiction. And the idea that you have a film here that it's like fiction. I mean, it's mythical, beautiful, hits all these themes, but it's a true story. I mean, it's pretty extraordinary. And of course, there are many Americans who remember, you know, when this happened and remember that Super Bowl. And it is just a, it's an extraordinary story. It's funny you bring up Rocky because I think that those are the stories that always resonate, the underdog story. Now, the difference between this film and Rocky

is that Talia Shire is not in this film, correct? Right. Unfortunately, we couldn't get some of the original cast, but you know. But you, but I mean, it's just funny because when you think of Rocky, I mean, I remember I was a kid and Rocky, like, the budget was like nothing for Rocky.

I mean, this was like a Hail Mary pass from Sylvester Stallone trying to make this film. But people are looking for films that have this kind of heart. And I think, you know, what's interesting Andy is that you and your brother you've been making films enough now where you realize it's easy for a story like this to become hokey

and how do you tell a story that has such heart but that it's not hokey it's real there's an element of grittiness to it I think Lionsgate and I want to be clear too because people who don't know this but Lionsgate really did a huge

thing by coming to you and your brother and saying we want to do you know, films that don't shrink from faith, that we want to do that. What do you think it was that that Lionsgate was willing to do that? Because Hollywood, again, traditionally, they're sort of wary.

You know, sometimes they're openly hostile, but other times I just think they're wary. They don't know that language. They don't know that. Was it, I mean, a relationship that you had with them? How did it happen? Because this is, you know, this is good news for America. Yeah, the exciting thing,

is Eric, you know, I don't think, you know, there are those that are hostile towards Christianity within the industry, but as a whole it's a business and it's about making money. And a lot of times they're afraid to risk on things that are unknown. And until you prove that there's an audience there. And the thing I love about Lionsgate is they have this entrepreneur spirit. And so they're willing to take risks on filmmakers that connect with a very specific niche. And that, that they like to develop that. They did it with. with Tyler Perry, and there's others that they've done it with over the years. And so they really got kind of our entrepreneur spirit.

We connected on that level. I can only imagine kind of proved the theory that there was an audience there. And at that point, they really kind of went all in on us and on our audience. And it's bigger than John and myself. There's an audience there that's underserved. And so when you have a film like this, and what we tried to do with a film like this, we tried to make it broad. We really embraced that it was something that could brand,

out beyond the church walls, but that was safe for our audience. It's a family film. It's not cheesy. We really embraced the bumps on the road that Kurt went down. He said, you know, I don't want to make a Pollyanna story. But in that, there's something really all-American and wholesome about it that on Christmas day you can take your whole family to. It's something that a family can unite around.

And, you know, on a day where, you know, the Matrix might be pulling the male audience one way. And, you know, you have female-driven things on others and Spider-Man. is pulling the kids away. This is a story that can, the whole family can say, let's do this together. And we're excited about that opportunity for us as Christians. And we are very excited for you as well. We'll be right back, folks. I'm talking to Andy Irwin.

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American underdog. It's like, was that taken? It wasn't taken. Let's use that. underdog. It doesn't get better. Andy Irwin, now how are you credited? You guys are just producers on the film? How does that, how do you and your brother work that stuff out? Yeah. I mean, John and I are, you know, we're blue-collar. So a filmmaker kind of encompasses all of it.

But we, we produce and direct together along with, you know, our other producers, Mark March Yard and Kevin Downs. And then John wrote the script for it with a group of other writers, David O'Haron Cohen and John Gunn. But it was a- But you do We direct together. Yeah, we direct together. Does anybody else direct together? Do the Cohen brothers direct together? How does that work?

Yeah, there's a lot of brother director teams, whether it's, you know, the Cohen brothers or, you know, the Duffer brothers do stranger. Hitchcock brothers. Who can forget the Hitchcock brothers? So there's a lot of brother teams, and I think, you know, it's dysfunctional every sense of the word. We argue a lot.

But in that, we had this policy of best idea wins. It's friction with. respect. And there's a necessity of friction in creating really good stories. And that's how we work. Well, it must be exciting for you, too, to get to work with people like Anna. Is it Pac-Win or Paquin? I always get this. Pac-Wan. To work with her, to work with Dennis Quaid, people have been now. And I can only imagine you got to work with Cloris Leachman. And I just would have done anything to meet Cloris Leachman. She is one of the greats, absolute, just a just. Just, just an amazing, brilliant actress, comedian,

but it must be gratifying to get to work with folks like this who know their way around a film set, so to speak. Oh, yeah. Yeah, you know, for me, you know, each time I get to work with a legend like Clores or John Boyt or, you know, others or Gary Seneas, who's one of my heroes, you know, whenever I get to work with one of them, you know, it makes my job so much easy as a director.

I just sit around and asked for, tell me the stories of kind of the early days. and just kind of the romantic stories of old Hollywood is something I love. You know, on this one, we got to work with Bruce McGill, who, you know, has been in everything. And Bruce, I would just sit around and say, tell me how Michael Mann does it. Tell me how Steven Spielberg does it. And just I would just hear these stories and be like, oh, I'm stealing that. I'm stealing that. So we love it.

And I think as Christians, the cool thing is, like for years, it was very hard for us to kind of get traction with, you know, the talent that we wanted in front of the cameras. And now the doors have really been opened up to this massive amount of talent that's willing to work on things that have to do with faith. And I think that's exciting to see that conversation kind of go outward. Well, look, it really is. And part of the reason that I get so excited about this and that I've been talking about this kind of thing for years is I really do believe, and I know you and your brother get this, that you really have to speak through the culture about God. That if people just hear it in religious contexts, then they put it in that box. It doesn't come into their world. And a lot of these stories, I mean, there's so few films like this. I mean, you have to go way back to chariots of fire or to a man for all seasons. I mean, it's like you're lucky if once a decade you get a story like this.

So I actually believe that in part because of what you and John are doing, that there's a renaissance. There's something happening that is deeply healthy for our culture. We need this. We've been, you know, kind of disproportionately secular. You probably don't know this, but I think literally 30 years ago, Michael Medved wrote a book called Hollywood versus America. And in the book, now imagine this is 30 plus years ago,

but he was basically showing how if you're in Hollywood, you want to make money, these are the kind of films, like G-rated films, family films. Those are the big money makers. But there's a culture. And again, it's here in New York and you see it in Hollywood where people want the respect of their friends. And their friends are saying, like, make a gritty R-rated movie, you know, even though the money would be more in making an ET or something like that. So for folks like Lionsgate, just to have the wisdom to say, yes, we're willing to go in this direction, a lot of people could say, like, that's where the money is, but not everybody else is going in that direction.

So it's a really, it's a cultural, it takes a certain amount of courage and vision. And so I'm just thrilled that Lionsgate has done this with you and your brother. Now, American Underdog, I, you know, I wish I could invest because it's very rare that something comes along like this. What do you see for your future? Because I know you guys are probably working on other projects. Anything that you can mention? I don't know. Yeah.

You know, the exciting thing is, Eric, is, you know, each opportunity that the audience shows up, they're voting with their movie ticket for more content like this. And it's not about John and I as a brand. It's really about the reason why we named our company, Kingdom Story Company, is we wanted to do things that, you know, could build things for entertainment, but also have kind of a double bottom line, a kingdom eternal purpose, to kind of elevate other voices. that are up and coming to tell their stories.

So the thing I'm excited about is that playing field continues to broaden and widen. And we've got projects coming out not just from John and me, but from other filmmakers. Like John Gunn, who directed Case for Christ, he's got an incredible film coming out in March called The Unbreakable Boy. That's a lot like a movie like Wonder, just an incredible true story. We've got Jesus Revolution about the early days of the Jesus movement. that's a feature that my brother is directing. I'm developing a war movie that I can't talk about yet, but it's based on a New York Times bestseller,

and I'm really excited about it, but I can't announce it yet. And so there's a lot of really cool. It makes me want to guess. It's based on a New York Times besteller, and he can't talk about it, but it's a war. But the war happened, right? It's not a future war. No, no, it's not.

I can't talk about it. Don't worry about it. I'm not here to get you in trouble, but I'm excited that you're working on. I will come back and we'll talk when we announce, you'll be the first person that tells. Wow. Alvin, did you hear that? Write that down. Write that down. We're going to hold these guys.

Seriously, though, this is a, I think, you know, I'm excited for you and I'm excited for the film, but I'm really excited for entertainment in America because it's been a long time. You know this. It's been a long time so that when you get to tell a story like this and open in 3,000 theaters on Christmas Day, that's a milestone in the story of American. entertainment. We can't, you know, this is not business as usual. We don't have this kind of stuff happening all the time. So you guys have been so faithful over the years. And I just want to say congratulations to you. And everybody involved with this film, I cannot wait to see it. I know that my audience is properly excited to see it. But God bless you, Andy, give our best to John,

and to be continued. Very excited for you. Eric, you're the best. Appreciate your friendship, buddy. Make the best of what you've left to me. Left to me. Hey, folks, we have to start with a letter. We have to. I want to read this because we get a lot of letters. If you write to Ericmetaxis.com or you write to Metax.com, we read all these letters.

I read all the letters. I can't respond to most of them, but we read them. And every now and again, we get something, I think, you know what, Albin, we got to read this on the air. Yeah, a lot of fun. So the other day, we were talking. Now this is, you know, you go from the tragic to the ridiculous. There's been such bad news in this country. I don't want to touch on that right now.

I just want to say that we had John Zmirich on the other day. Yes. By the way, there's a reminder to you, folks. Go to METAXIS. Go to Eric Mataxis.com. Sign up for my newsletter because you don't want to miss these interviews with Zmirak and all these people. Please. But we had on John Zmirak, and he was mentioning,

this place in Wisconsin where this horrible thing happened, and he pronounced the place, Waukesha, Wisconsin, right? And it's Waukesha. Well, wait, wait a minute, wait a minute. You don't know that. I don't know that. My wife told me it was Waukesha. Oh, she did?

Yeah, yeah, she did. She knew that? Yeah, I interviewed John the week before, and I told him it was Waukesha, but he forgot, and he said Waukeeshaw. Okay. When he talked to you. So now we got a letter. Yeah, this is great.

It says, Eric. We can't mention this woman's name, but it might be Ann Cornelius. I can't read this. This is typed illegibly. But she's from Wisconsin, and she says, Eric. Love your show. Wauke Shaw is Waukeeshaw. Emphasis on first syllable, short E on second syllable, Waukeeshaw.

Wachishaw. Want you to sound real scunny. That's like Wisconsin. So I guess if you're from Wisconsin and you sound like a local, you sound scunny. Is it Scunny? Now we're going to get another email saying it's Scony. Scony. But I want to thank you, Ann, for writing and telling us how to pronounce Waukesha.

Yeah. Wau, it's Waukesha. Wau. I just love this. Look, if you sent us short, pithy emails, we are much more likely to read them on the air. So I want to encourage you to do that. And I want to remind you, folks, we're doing a fundraiser. with Christian Solidary International.

Now, I don't know if I've said this recently, but Donald Trump, President Trump, gave me three, Make America Great Again hats. Actually, he gave me more. He signed a couple. But there are three that he did not sign, but that he gave to me.

He didn't have time to sign them. But he also gave me the pen that he used to sign the other ones. It's a special Donald Trump pen. And I said, anybody who gives $250, can free a slave if you go to our website metaxis talk.com. And I just think it's a beautiful thing.

But then I thought there are people out there, if you can give $2,500, you're going to free 10 human beings from slavery. We want to thank you by sending you one of these hats that the president gave to me, and I will sign it to whomever, to you, to a friend, to an uncle, whoever you want to give it to or whatever. I will sign it to so-and-so, God bless you, your open tax, or whatever. With the pen, the president gave to me when he gave me the hat.

So this is kind of a cool thing. It's kind of a fun gift. Hey, if you're looking for something to give to somebody that you couldn't get any other way, I know there people out there who can afford that. And there are only three hats, so it's got to be the first three people. Well, there were only two hats.

We found the third hat today. So we're hoping that. I also want to say, if there's anybody that can give $10,000, And look, at Christmas time, folks, this is, it doesn't get more beautiful than being able to free people from literal slavery. So if there's anybody can give $10,000, I want to have dinner with you. We've done this many times, whether it's here in New York or another city. You know, we get together. It could be, you know, three of us or two of us, or it could be 20 people in a big, right?

That's all on you. But I just want to personally thank anybody who's able to do that. So we want to encourage you. Metaxistock.com or 888-253-352. Read that again? 888-253-352. Give something. Or just go to Metaxus talk.com.

God bless you.