Amazon's top-selling Christian romance film ‘The Farmer and The Belle’ announces sequel
ORLANDO, Fla. — Actress Jenn Gotzon and her actor-producer husband, Jim E. Chandler, announced that their Christian rom-com “The Farmer and The Belle” will have a second installment following its success on Amazon.
“The Farmer and The Belle: Saving Santaland” was released on DVD in November 2020 and spent six weeks on Amazon under "Best Sellers in Romance" for new releases. The faith-based film stayed in the top 10 for six weeks. Part one featured Gotzon (“Frost/Nixon”), Chandler (“Drop Dead Diva”), John Schneider (“The Dukes of Hazzard") and others.
The husband-wife duo first announced the sequel of their hit movie while on a panel for marketing and distribution at the International Christian Film and Music Festival (ICFF) last month. Later, they shared a few more details regarding the film with The Christian Post.
“After being, by God's grace, a bestseller in romance on Amazon for six weeks, we saw the ministry hit, so we're [going to] do a sequel, the 'Farmer and the Belle 2,'” Gotzon told CP during a red carpet interview.
Chandler noted that the film is already in development.
Part one of “The Farmer and The Belle” was inspired by a true story that illustrates the beauty of embracing one’s identity in God and how that leads to the true pathway to love. The sequel will venture into how to have a fruitful marriage.
"It's about having a fulfilling marriage based on psychological and biblical values,” Gotzon told CP.
The Christian romance film is targeting women ages 34 to 54 and up. According to prlog.org, the second installment follows “newlyweds, fashion model Belle (Gotzon) and the small-town farmer (Chandler) from the first movie.”
According to the synopsis, "The Farmer and the Belle" will be a Christmas movie that will "take place on a snowy ski mountain and a southern farm where the two discover that sometimes it takes a cow, a pig and a farmer's daughter to find love and respect in marriage."
The end credits will feature a surprise visitor, the Chandlers' newborn son, baby James.
As 2020 saw the end of many marriages among nonbelievers and Christians alike, Gotzon said it's important for couples to have three loves for each other when in a relationship.
"When we first started dating, this pastor, Pastor David, explained you have three loves from the Bible. Raya, Ahava and Dod. Raya is friendship. Ahava is that forever loyalty, and Dod is the passion which is 'ooh la la,'" she explained.
The terms for love come from the Old Testament Scriptures and are primarily used in the Hebrew language. Each word expressed different types of love.
"When you have all three of those loves burning together under God's flame, that's the composition of what makes true love within a marriage," Gotzon concluded in her interview with CP. "So that's what we have to strive for in a marriage."
For further information on "The Farmer and The Belle" sequel, visit the film's website.
Jeannie Ortega Law is a reporter for The Christian Post. Reach her at: jeannie.law@christianpost.com Follow her on Twitter: @jlawcp Facebook: JeannieOMusic