'Journey to Bethlehem' director to release thriller about spiritual warfare: 'The devil does his best work in Hollywood'
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Adam Anders has revealed he’s working on a thriller focused on spiritual warfare, a topic the "Rock of Ages" director said he’s become even more concerned about after working in Hollywood for decades, a place where “the devil does his best work.”
The 48-year-old director, who is also behind "Journey to Bethlehem" and “Dirty Dancing,” told The Christian Post that his next venture, set to be released by Lionsgate, departs from his usual music-driven projects and tackles a rarely explored topic in Hollywood — spiritual battles between good and evil.
“My next project is a thriller with Lionsgate next about spiritual warfare,” he said. “It’s going to be a huge movie. It's not a musical, which is crazy, but a great challenge. I’m very excited. I'm just writing it right now.”
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Anders told CP he “ran away from the project for a long time” because “opening yourself up to the topic is scary.” But after spending years in Hollywood, the director said he felt burdened to make the film.
“I live in L.A.,” he said. “It’s the epicenter [of spiritual warfare], and I’ve seen it my whole career. Living there as a Christian, I’m a man on an island. Hollywood is where culture is shaped, and it affects the whole world. That’s why the devil does his best work there. He wants to be there and affect culture for the whole world.”
Anders pointed out that spiritual warfare is a reality that many in the industry shy away from discussing, but he believes the message is more urgent now than ever.
“The more I got into it, the more peace I felt about it, and I felt totally comfortable doing it. I hope that movie will be able to reveal what's actually going on so people understand there's a veil over your eyes. What's actually going on is there's a battle for our souls. And we need to show people that," he said.
The director spoke to CP on the red carpet for the GMA Dove Awards, where his 2023 film, “Journey to Bethlehem,” was nominated for Feature Film of The Year. He told CP that the film — which sparked controversy for taking liberties with the biblical account of the birth of Jesus — has resonated with some viewers who don’t typically engage with faith-based content.
“People have come up to me and said, ‘I'm an atheist, and this movie changed my life,’” he said. “Or, ‘I hate church, but I had to see this movie.’ So many people who aren't believers hear the Gospel through this movie.
“I didn't make it for Christians, and many didn't understand the creative license I took, but it was designed to reach people outside of the Church, to bring them and point them towards the Scriptures, not to replace them," he added. "And it's working, and seeing that is so rewarding. This vision that God gave me for a very specific purpose is working, and people are finding the Gospel message through this movie, even in the summer.”
In April 2023, “Nefarious” directors Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman told CP that while bringing their spiritual thriller to the big screen, it became clear that “the devil didn’t want this movie to be made.”
“We had a friend tell us a long time ago, ‘For those people that don't believe in the devil, declare war against him and see what happens,’” Solomon said. “Well, we declared war against the devil for the Lord, and I will say that honestly, from the first moment we wrote the script, weird, crazy things began to happen.”
The duo told CP that from petty inconveniences, like a squirrel breaking into their Airbnb and destroying a Nativity set, to larger issues, like the roof blowing off their office and strange ailments afflicting the cast and crew during filming, the spiritual warfare taking place throughout the making of “Nefarious” was undeniable.
“It was a constant struggle in the theaters,” Solomon said. “The fire alarm goes off in multiple theaters across the nation, computers would malfunction so people couldn’t buy tickets, it would show a theater was sold out, but it wasn’t.”
Most unnervingly, there were numerous reports of “people growling and vomiting in the theater and not remembering any of it when they woke up,” Kozelman added.
“The devil literally didn't want us to do it from page one," he said. "But we pushed through; the Lord said, ‘Keep pushing.’ The reason we did it, honestly, was the Holy Spirit basically called us to do it. We prayed on it — we prayed on everything — and just kept on moving forward. … When you go through an experience like this, your faith in God goes up, and so does your understanding that the devil is real.”
Similarly, Anders told CP he’s expecting spiritual opposition as he brings the film to life — but “we’re ready for it.”
“We have victory over it,” he said. “But it’s going to be a journey.”
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: leah.klett@christianpost.com
