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Huckabee to Host Screening of God's Not Dead 2 on Eve of Iowa Caucuses

  • Religious persecution, missions, Christianity around the world
  • Updated Jan 27, 2016

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee will spotlight one of the key issues of his campaign – the growing cultural challenges to religious liberty – by hosting an exclusive screening of the upcoming inspirational drama God's Not Dead 2 just days before the Iowa caucuses. 

The former Arkansas governor appears in the movie, the sequel to God's Not Dead, the highest-grossing independent faith film of 2014, which took in more than $60 million at the box office. Huckabee will show the new film, due in theaters April 1, to supporters and fellow key GOP leaders at 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 31 at Cinemark 20 Jordan Creek Theaters, 101 Jordan Creek Pkwy, West Des Moines. 

Tickets are free but need to be reserved at www.MikeHuckabee.com/GodsNotDead.

“The success of God's Not Dead stunned Hollywood, but not the people of middle America,” Huckabee said. “On the eve of the Iowa caucuses, this screening will be a great opportunity for people in Iowa to be among the first in the nation to see the film before it gets to theaters and be reminded why this election is so important to preserving religious liberty.  Since there is limited seating, we hope people contact us early to be there."

In God's Not Dead 2, the faith of history teacher Grace Wesley (Melissa Joan Hart) comes under attack when a student asks about the similarities between Jesus’ teachings and those of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King. Grace’s answer -- that what Jesus taught was an inspiration for King’s nonviolent activism – leads school district officials to enlist a zealous civil liberties group to find her guilty of violating the “separation of church and state.” 

Grace fights for her rights and her livelihood with the help of her union-appointed attorney, Tom Endler (Jesse Metcalfe), who must employ some unusual tactics in his efforts to convince the jury of Grace’s innocence and prevent God’s name from being banned from the public square.

“Cases like these – where the religious freedoms of everyday men and women are being restricted by courts and government agencies – are sadly quite common today.” explained producer and Pure Flix founding partner Michael Scott. “Our hope is that we can start a conversation in the country with this movie about how critical the right to believe, and to talk about that belief in public, is to our nation.” 

God's Not Dead 2 stars Melissa Joan Hart (Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Melissa & Joey), Jesse Metcalfe (Dallas, Desperate Housewives) Hayley Orrantia (The Goldbergs, The X Factor), Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters, Oz) Sadie Robertson (Duck Dynasty), Robin Givens (Head of the Class, Boomerang), the late Fred Dalton Thompson (Law & Order, Die Hard 2) and Maria Canals-Barrera (Cristela, Wizards of Waverly Place), with Pat Boone and Ray Wise (Fresh off the Boat, Mad Men).

Stars from the original God's Not Dead return as well, including fan favorites David A.R. White (Rev. Dave), Benjamin Onyango (Rev. Jude), Trisha LaFache (Amy Ryan) and Paul Kwo (Martin Yip), along with a special appearance by Newsboys.

God's Not Dead 2, reuniting the creative team behind the original, is directed by Harold Cronk (God's Not Dead, Jerusalem Countdown) from a script by Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon (God's Not Dead, Do You Believe?). Michael Scott, David A.R. White, Brittany Lefebvre and Elizabeth Hatcher-Travis and the late Russell Wolfe are producers.

Publication date: January 27, 2016