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Four-time Grammy Award-winning duo for King + Country are bringing their annual popular holiday concert A Drummer Boy Christmas to theaters nationwide for the first time in a limited engagement December 5-9 on 1,000+ screens.

The faith-based duo, brothers Joel and Luke Smallbone, announced they will then take a brief touring hiatus in 2025 to create new music and work on their next feature film project. Their last, Unsung Hero from Kingdom Story Company was released by Lionsgate in April and grossed over $20 million.

Joel Smallbone directed and starred as his father David Smallbone, who moved with his family from Australia to the U.S. after his music company collapsed. His children, for King + Country, and Rebecca St. James, became well known inspirational music acts.

For King + Country is currently on a 31-city U.S. tour titled for King + Country Live: The Unsung Hero 2024 Tour.

They launch the annual A Drummer Boy Christmas | The 2024 Tour Experience on Dec.

Based on a remarkable true story, Unsung Hero follows Helen (Daisy Betts) and her husband David Smallbone (Joel Smallbone) as they move their family from Down Under to the States with nothing more than their seven children, suitcases, and their love of music. As Helen and David set out to rebuild their lives, they begin to realize the musical prowess in their children, who would go on to become two of the most successful acts in inspirational music history: five-time Grammy-winning artists for King + Country and Rebecca St. James.

Unsung Hero is available on VOD on July 2 and Blu-ray and DVD on July 9.

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Unsung Hero, a faith based family drama directed by Joel Smallbone and Richard L. Ramsey, delves into the real-life story of the Smallbone family. This includes members of the popular Christian rock group for King and Country Joel and Luke as they navigate the challenges of emigrating from Australia to the United States. The film centres around Helen Smallbone (played by Aussie actor Daisy Betts), whose strength and unwavering support for her family proved to be vital for their continued success.

The narrative focuses on the family’s struggle to establish a new life in Nashville amidst financial difficulties and cultural adjustments. Joel Smallbone portrays his father, David Smallbone, a once successful tour manager struggling to keep his business afloat. The musician-turned-filmmaker captures the character’s journey from despair and pride to humility and hope with authenticity and conviction.

Unsung Hero’s strength lies in its portrayal of the family...

Based on the experiences of the Smallbone family who travelled to Tennesse in the 90s, this is so sugary it should come with a warning for diabetics

Given the current attitudes in what is now largely Republican Tennessee where this film is set, it’s somewhat surprising to see such a sympathetic depiction of the travails of a family of economic migrants from the southern hemisphere who come to America seeking their fortune. Gullibly believing that the offer of a job is real and facing economic hardship in his homeland, the somewhat deluded father hauls his wife and six children (seven if you count the one the wife is carrying), across the border where they only just escape scrutiny from suspicious border guards. When the promised job falls through, the parents are compelled to put the underage children to menial yard work and cleaning jobs so that they have enough...

Cassandra Freeman (Bel-Air), Tika Sumpter (Sonic the Hedgehog) and Michaela Watkins (Thanks for Sharing) have joined the “Geena & Friends” program taking place at the upcoming Bentonville Film Festival in Arkansas.

The program, led by Geena Davis and moderated by The Hollywood Reporter contributing editor Stacey Wilson Hunt, takes a unique spin on traditional comedic narratives by reimagining them with an all-female or gender-non-conforming cast. The event is set for June 14 at the Thaden Theater in Bentonville.

“I am thrilled to lead this program that reimagines all-male film narratives with an all-female/gender-non-conforming cast, leading to great humor,” Davis said. “It’s an incredible opportunity to showcase the power of storytelling through laughter and camaraderie. Working alongside such talented individuals as Cassandra Freeman, Tika Sumpter and Michaela Watkins is truly inspiring. I look forward to sharing this unique and transformative experience with everyone.”

The Bentonville Film Foundation made the announcement Thursday,...

Amazon MGM Studios’ Challengers, starring Zendaya and directed by Luca Guadagnino, made $1.9M in previews, a figure $100K shy of what Universal’s Cocaine Bear did. The tennis sexy romcom is hoping to open to $15M for the weekend.

Critics love Challengers at 91% certified fresh, but last night’s audiences were so-so on it with three stars on Screen Engine/Comscore’s PostTrak at 3 1/2 stars, 75% positive and a 56% definite recommend. Women over 25 at 35% came out as well as womn under 25 at 25%, but guys over 25 got pulled along as dates at 25% with men under 25 at 14%. It wasn’t Zendaya’s girl fans who liked the movie the most, but men over 25 at 80%. Overall best demo grades for Challengers came from the 25-34 bunch and 45-54 folks. Originally the movie was scheduled to go in mid-September, but got pushed to this weekend due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.

The heartrending hook behind “Unsung Hero” isn’t solely discovering how one tight knit family birthed two chart-topping contemporary Christian musical acts, although that is an interesting draw. It’s not necessarily learning how the Aussie expats survived a slew of hardships through togetherness and fortitude. The fascinating angle it adopts is similar to the way Steven Spielberg explored a tumultuous time in his childhood with “The Fablemans,” as Joel Smallbone (who co-wrote and directed with Richard L. Ramsey) also engages with family history, portraying his father grappling with financial and personal crises. The co-directors re-contextualize character-building circumstances, crafting a soul-stirring testament to the power of family and faith in the process.

David Smallbone (Joel Smallbone) is at the top of his game in early 1991. He’s got a great support system at work as one of Australia’s top Christian artist concert promoters, luring in such performers as the heavy metal hair band Stryper.

The month of April seemingly sailed by with far too many moderate releases, and the month ends this weekend with more of the same. Read on for Gold Derby’s box office preview.

Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino returns with the sexy tennis drama “Challengers,” starring the powerhouse trio of Zendaya (“Euphoria”), Josh O’Connor (“The Crown”) and Mike Faist (“West Side Story”) as superstar tennis players who fall into a competitive love triangle. This is Zendaya’s first movie after “Dune: Part Two,” and it will be a real test for her as a box office star, since sports dramas can be hit or miss. “Challengers” really is riding on her popularity to avoid the pitfalls of the genre.

Tennis has had an especially tough time at the box office, as seen by Will Smith‘s Oscar-winning turn in the 2021 release “King Richard,” about the father of Venus and Serena Williams,...

Who loves Zendaya? Show of hands? Well if you do, and Amazon MGM Studios is betting that plenty of 18-24 olds do, you can watch the Euphoria Emmy winner in Imax in Amazon MGM Studio’s Challengers this weekend, then sit around and watch her again in Legendary/Warner Bros’ Dune: Part Two.

The R-rated menage a trois tennis romantic comedy, Challengers, finally steps on the court this weekend after being pushed from its Sept. 15 release date due to the actors strike, with an eye at a $15M domestic opening at 3,400 locations, give or take. The pic will serve as a testament to Zendaya’s box office drawing power sans any attachments to major IP, read Dune or Spider-Man. Already working in the favor of the Luca Guadagnino directed, Amy Pascal produced movie are excellent reviews at 95% certified fresh. If this movie can truly breakout, it’s a win...

"You're family – they're not in the way, they are the way." Lionsgate has revealed the official trailer for a band biopic movie called Unsung Hero, which is essentially just one big chunk of marketing for the band anyway. It actually stars one of the band members as his own father, and is also written and directed and produced by him. David Smallbone, his pregnant wife, and their seven children leave Australia to rebuild their lives in America. David and Helen realize the musical talent of their children, who become two of the most successful acts in "Inspirational Music" history. The movie also follows the family's mother, Helen, as she uses her faith to hold the family of nine together by turning struggles into an adventure for her children. Not just a movie about a band, it's also more religious storytelling! Unsung Hero stars Daisy Betts, Joel Smallbone, Kirrilee Berger, Jonathan Jackson,...

While the industry fears further theatrical date shakeups for 2023 due to the strikes, next year is getting beefed up. Today, Lionsgate has dated another faith-based music feature from Kingdom Story Company for April 26, that being Unsung Hero.

The pic joins MGM’s Luca Guadagnino-directed R-rated Zendaya romance pic, Challengers, which is already on that date.

Directed and written by Richard Ramsey and Joel Smallbone, Unsung Hero follows the true story of David Smallbone (Joel Smallbone), whose successful music company collapses. He moves his family from Down Under to the States, searching for a brighter future. With nothing more than their seven children, suitcases and their love of music, David and his pregnant wife Helen (Daisy Betts) set out to rebuild their lives.

Helen’s faith stands against all odds and inspires her husband and children to hold onto theirs. With their own dreams on hold, David and Helen begin...

Lionsgate has picked up Kingdom Story Company’s Unsung Hero, the directorial debut of Joel Smallbone, one half of the Christian music duo For King + Country.

The drama centers on the Smallbone family, which also includes For King + Country member Luke Smallbone and singer-songwriter Rebecca St. James, as they come to America from their native Australia after the collapse of their father’s successful music company.

The movie also follows the family’s mother, Helen Smallbone (Daisy Betts) as she uses her faith to hold the family of nine together by turning struggles into an adventure for her children. The title for the film comes from a For King + Country song of the same name that was dedicated to the parents of Joel and Luke Smallbone.

Joel Smallbone stars as his father, David Smallbone, with other cast including Kirrilee Berger, Jonathan Jackson, Lucas Black, Candace Cameron Bure, Terry O’Quinn and Hillary Scott.

Keep up with the wild and wooly world of indie film acquisitions with our weekly Rundown of everything that’s been picked up around the globe. Check out last week’s Rundown here.

– Sony Pictures Classics have announced they have acquired the rest of Pedro Almodóvar’s full library of films, including “Pepi, Luci, Bom”; “Labyrinth of Passion”; “Dark Habits”; “What Have I Done to Deserve This?”; “High Heels” and “Kika.” Spc will release his latest, “Julieta,” in theaters on December 21.

Based on short stories by Nobel laureate Alice Munro, “Julieta” is “about a mother’s struggle to survive uncertainty. It is also about fate, guilt complexes and that unfathomable mystery that leads us to abandon the people we love, erasing them from our lives as if they had never meant anything, as if they had never existed. The cast includes Adriana Ugarte, Emma Suárez and Rossy de Palma. It...