Upcoming Film to Chronicle the Life of Eric Liddell

I’ve written before on how every Christian should know the story of Eric Liddell. The Scottish missionary and Olympic sprinter became a household name when he refused to run on the Sabbath during the 1924 Olympic Games. Despite this, Liddell would go on to win gold in the 400m event, and the story of his faith would be memorialized in the classic film, Chariots of Fire. Now, according to Aaron James of Premier, a new film called The Last Race will chronicle Liddell’s time in China, where he served as a missionary before his death in 1945. James writes,

“Christian actor Joseph Fiennes will play the star, who famously refused to run the 100m dash in the 1924 Paris Olympics because it was on a Sunday, or Sabbath. Eric Liddell then raced in the 400m event, winning gold and breaking the Olympic record. It's rumored an American trainer slipped him a piece of paper before the race with the Bible verse 1 Samuel 2:30 on, part of which says: ‘Those who honor me I will honor…’”

“The Last Race will mostly chronicle Eric Liddell's time in China, with Hong Kong film company AliBaba Pictures Group backing the film. A Chinese scriptwriter, Joseph Shin, is also teaming up with director Michael Parker to make the film. China only allows a certain number of foreign films to showcase in the country each year, however the backing of companies in its own country could mean The Last Race is one of the select few which gets shown. This will be particularly significant, given that China only permits Christianity within the context of government-sanctioned churches, and the fact authorities have partly or wholly destroyed hundreds of churches and crosses and imprisoned at least dozens of Christians in the country over the last few years.”

The Last Race is set to release sometime next year.

*Published 6/29/15