The Eric Metaxas Show - Andy Erwin (Encore)

Episode Date: December 31, 2021

Filmmaker Andy Erwin talks about "American Underdog," about legendary quarterback Kurt Warner, which opened Christmas Day. (Encore Presentation) 

Eric McTexis show with your host, Eric Mettaxas. Hey, folks, continuing our conversation with Neil Thomas. The book is taking leave of Darwin. Neil, the point I was just making that I want your response to is that there are people that still feel that they cannot, God forbid, take leave of Darwin to quote the title of your book. They have to somehow say that it is natural selection via random mutation and natural. processes that produced the panoply of creation. And what folks like Stephen Meyer and Michael B. he say is no, the evidence says that theory has to be set aside.

And it seems to me that you too say that theory has to be set aside. We cannot use Darwin's theory of natural selection to account for how things are the way they are. that's really what you have come to see. So what is some of the evidence for that? In other words, when you say that that's no longer possible, what is it that you've seen in the fossil record that makes you say we can no longer have natural selection as our thesis? Well, I mean, I think that natural selection is not what the Victorians would have understood by a true, of Vera Kausa, a true

reasoning. It is not a mechanism. It is a statistic observation on what typically happens with regard to the survival of the fittest and so on. It has nothing to say about

innovation or the creation of new body parts or body types or body forms and so on. And I do feel that those people who try and have the best of both world talking in terms of both a divine origin plus Darwin are, as I say, they're trimming and equivocating in a way that I think was first pointed out by a chap called Richard Hofstatter

back in 1944 in the first meditation on the reception of Darwin in America. That was the title of the book. and he said that most people, in order to be thought, intelligent, educated, and what we might have later said, hip, felt that they had to trim their views to coincide with what Darwin said, and that any discussion would have a Darwinian premise to it. So even if you were a theistic evolutionist, to be a theistic evolutionist, you might think that you could garner more prestige by showing yourself to be a scientist as well by invoking all these subsidiary reasons. But I don't think it coheres. I don't think the two come together. Well, there's a group, I don't know if you're familiar with them, called Biologos, and they are theistic evolutionists. and Francis Collins, recently retired head of NAHH here in the States, a public Christian, he throws his hat in with that group and basically says, listen, you know, effectively,

let me have my God. I believe God started everything. But I still believe that he used random naturalistic processes to create everything. And it seems to me that folks like you and others have. looked at the scientific facts and said, it's no longer possible to believe that that's how all these things got here. We can account for microevolution. We can account for a slight changes. But the idea that random mutations over time would be wildly creative is no longer scientifically sensible. Yes, I would have to agree with that simply because I,

I find the Darwinian explanation so flimsy. And so inchoate, in a way, yes, it starts well. As one distinguished reviewer of the Victorian era said, yes, I can believe that a weasel becomes a better weasel or a hair becomes a better hair. But that doesn't mean to say the hair is going to change into an elephant. You know, it's a matter of proportionality. You know, Darwin was dealing with the.

footnotes to biological development, it seems to me. He wasn't really providing any explanation for how the really great and sometimes gigantic innovations of elephants and whales and so on came into being.

Well, that's you're saying what what I have come to see myself, but I still am that people are so unwilling somehow to see these things and that they see the folks like

Stephen Meyer as we can't be associated with the intelligent design gang as though they're alchemists or something like that. And you come to the table without any particular preconceived notions and you see things for what they are and you're trying to make sense of it. David Berlinski is someone who's done the same. He's an agnostic to this day. But He doesn't understand how people looking at the facts can say that, you know, we go from single-celled organisms to fish to snakes to dinosaurs to elephants to walruses. It doesn't make sense once you know the facts. So if you're, I guess the larger point is that you realize that if you're Darwin, if you're living in mid-Victorian England, it's possible to. have a childlike hope that these things will sort themselves out.

But now, knowing what we do, in the third decade of the 21st century, we can no longer believe these things. But almost all people in the academy still do. Yes, they still do. With some exceptions, I mean, some people have come to the conclusion, I think, that Anthony Flew, for instance, has heard at a change of heart. He was a hardcore materialist philosopher at one time.

And then it's simply because of science, because of what the electron microscope can show us, which couldn't have shown him, which couldn't have shown him what it has to show in his youth and so on, that he has looked at the evidence. And I respect Anthony Flew, because I think he, I didn't know him personally, but I think that he was calling it as he saw it.

And I wish that more people would follow his example. Well, it is interesting. You'll remember that I write about him in my book as one of those dedicated atheists who was so thoughtful and dedicated to following where the facts led, where the truth led, as he often quoted Socrates in that, to that in that way, but that he eventually, as did Camus and Sart, reason his way through the thicket into the inevitable conclusion that there had to be some God. We can debate the nature of that

God, but he no longer, but the way he was attacked by people when he came to this conclusion again, tells you, we're dealing with something that really it's beyond logic. I think that's worth saying, that the response is not a logical response. It seems to be animated by something else. Well, I think it's animated by the sort of Cartesian ambition, the Newtonian ambition, to see all of life as coming into a sort of mechanistic paradigm of things. but the trouble is that modern science and quantum theory

and theories about consciousness in the brain which have got nowhere essentially indicate that there are areas which cannot be accessed by any sort of mechanistic and purely mathematical methods of approach and so on so I think that there's something of a lag between people's scientific knowledge they're not actually taking on board recent advances in the last 50 years or maybe more especially 25 years.

We're out of time, very sad to say. Neil Thomas, always a delight to speak with you. Thank you so much. Congratulations on the book Taking Leave of Darwin. Thank you, sir. Thank you very much yourself. Thank you. Been an awful good girl, Santa Bay.

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That's IPfrequently.com. Well, you wonder why I always dress in black. Why you never see bright colors on my back. 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 try 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, 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 on the along, 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 camera and 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. And it 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 you and your brother you know you've made a lot of films but

it's a new thing when when all kinds of theaters across the country open a film on christmas day talk about that because this is this is a big uh it's a great accomplishment that you've 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-headed 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, 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 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

just hungry for this. But we know that Hollywood has tended to be secular. New York, where I live, tends to be secular, 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. They just finished Shazam, too. And so, you know, but he and I knew each other from 10 to 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 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 released. 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 a really hard to. 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. 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 and said, 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. I mean, he's a big, he's a huge. He's a huge deal. And so I'm thrilled that that he's in this. But how do we pronounce it, Pequin, Pacquin, Anna. Paquin, yeah, Anna Pac-Wan.

Anna Pac-Win, 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, 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're looking for who to play Brenda, when Anna, Anna Pac-win, you know, is the youngest Oscar winner in the history of, of. of the Oscar. She was nine years old when she won her Academy Award. Wait, she beat out Tatum O'Neill, you're telling me? Yeah, exactly. Really? She's right, they're neck and neck. I think they're, 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. crazy. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. She was a 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 Brothers. The new film, which comes out Christmas Day, is American Underdog. Do you know how many theaters that will open in? 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 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. Did you say 3,000? Yeah. What do you do in 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.

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Folks, 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, 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 McTachis, we see eye to eye, and I'm always glad to talk with other stories. 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 become. you know, coach Dick Vermelck, he just becomes somebody else. Someday Albin, I'm 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 an American story, I guess. Yeah, absolutely. And hence the title of American Underdog, you know, the idea for it is 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 what happened 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 a 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. didn't 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 need 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 Supermark 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, 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 films that don't shrink from faith, that we want to do that. What do you think it was 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. 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 they like to develop that. They did it 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 off. 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 branch 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 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, I'm talking to Andy Irwin. The film, as you now know, is American Underdog opening on Christmas Day. Hey, folks, I've got to tell you a secret about relief factor that the father, son, owners, Pete and Seth Talbot, have never made a big deal about. But I think it is a big deal. I really do. They sell the three-week quick start pack for just 1995 to anyone struggling from pain like neck, shoulder, back, hip, or knee pain, 1995, about a dollar a day. But what they haven't broadcasted much is that every time they sell a three-week quick start. start, they lose money. In fact, they don't even break even until about four to five months after if you keep ordering it. Friends, that's huge. People don't keep ordering Relief Factor month after

month if it doesn't work. So yes, Pete and Seth are literally on a mission to help as many people as possible deal with their pain. They really do put their money where their mouths are. So if you're in pain from exercise or even just getting older, or to the three-week quick start for 1995. Let's see if we can get you at a pain too. Go to relieffactor.com. Relieffactor.com or call 800, 500, 384, 800, 500, 8384 relieffactor.com. I use it. It works. Folks, I hope you're excited as I am American Underdog. By the way, what a title, American Underdog.

It's like, was that taken? It wasn't taken. Let's use that. American 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?

I mean, John and I are, you know, we're blue-collar. So filmmaker kind of encompasses all of it. But we produce and direct together along with, you know, our other producers, Mark Charity 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 cool group. 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 have 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 Clorice-Mond. She is one of the greats, absolute, 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. Yeah, yeah. For me, you know, each time I get to work with a legend like Clores or John Boyt or, you know, others or Gary Sinese, 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, I, 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 I'd 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 out. 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. 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 a 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 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 of a seller 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's else.

Wow. It'll be excited. 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. Hey, Albin.

Hey, Eric. Guess what I'm doing this weekend. What are you doing this weekend? weekend. I'm speaking in Bethel, Connecticut. Get out of here. Anybody you can drive there. I'm speaking in Bethel, Connecticut, this weekend, this Sunday, Bethel, Connecticut, his vineyard, church. Next weekend, I'm speaking in New York City. The weekend after that, I'm speaking in Tampa, Florida.

Weekend after that, I'm speaking in Colorado Springs. Weekend after that, I'm speaking in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Boy, you just won't shut up. Oh, will you? That's funny. That was very funny. That's good, Albin. That's good.

People can find out the details of my speaking schedule at Ericmetaxis.com. There's all kinds of other stuff at Ericmataxis.com. But I want to tell people that I'm going to get out there. And I love meeting people. If you can get to these venues, I sign books as long as people are there. And I just love meeting people. It's just a joy. Believe me, I think we need to get out and about stop hiding in our root cellars.

Although President Chicken Little, he makes a point. An untrue point, but a point nonetheless. So we should also say, Albin, that this is the last week for people to get the huge 30% off discount from nutrometics.com. Folks, if you're stocking up on nutraceuticals, vitamin D, vitamin C, hike, all of those things, you really, you want. to get it from nutrometics.com this week because the 30% off goes back to the standard discount of 20% off. So this is the week you want to stock up, do your shopping. Nutrametics.com, got to use the code Eric. They give 50% of their profits to missions organizations. They're the real deal. I mean, there's stuff. I said to my doctor here in New York, have you ever heard of Nutrametics.com?

He says, oh, that's a great company. So he's not where we are politically, theologically, and he knows they're a great company. But we know they get 50% of it. off. They give 50% of their profits to missions organizations. They're just, they were, I mean, they came into existence because they are missionaries. They have been missionaries in South America. So they're great folks. And it's Neutromedics.com. But this week is the last week 30% off. Similarly, I should say, this week is the last week to give to CSI, to free a slave. Yeah. Folks, it's, it's end of year giving.

tax deductible gifts to CSI. They are a non-woke Christian charity, freeing slaves in Africa. Black people in Africa are enslaved. You care about black people? Well, guess what? Black people have enslaved black people. This is not a color thing. It's not a race thing. It's an evil thing. It's a sin thing. We need to step up and do something to help real people suffering today. If you care, about people, this is a way you can do something spectacular, but this is our last week. We won't mention again at the end of this year, that's it. We're done. So I want to say that when you go to our website, metaxis talk.com, you'll see the banner for CSI right at the top. We want to encourage you to give. Anything you give, we will be thrilled. So you want to get the kids

involved. I think it's important to make them understand there's evil in the world, but you can do something about it. But the grace of God, we can even see what's evil. They're people that they're doing evil. They don't even know what they're doing is evil or somehow they've been persuaded. It's okay. We know it's not. That's a gift from God. The very fact that we know that that's wrong. So we have an obligation because we know it's wrong to try to do whatever we can about it. So please go to Metaxus Talk. Do what you can. This is the last week. I've said it before. Anybody you can give anything, you will be entered in a drawing to win all kinds of signed books.

and all kinds of stuff. Anybody gives $1,000, gets signed books. Anybody who gives $10,000, if you want to pull your stuff together and give $10,000 free, 40 people, I would be delighted to have dinner with you. We'll figure it out. I'm just going to say Merry Christmas.

Yeah, Merry Christmas. And Happy New Year. And praise God, from whom all blessings flow. He's real. Folks, God bless you.