Francine Rivers’ acclaimed novel “Redeeming Love” — inspired by the biblical story in the Old Testament book of Hosea — first hit shelves three decades ago. In early January, the story will come to life on the silver screen.
During an interview with Faithwire, Rivers described the events that led to the film adaptation of her novel as “miraculous.”
The movie’s director, D.J. Caruso, was introduced to the story by his wife, Holly Kuespert, who was deeply moved by the book, a harrowing tale of life, love, and Gospel redemption against the backdrop of the 1850s California Gold Rush. Soon after reading the historical novel, Caruso joined the effort to transform the story into a movie.
Like so many other film productions, though, the team working on “Redeeming Love” came up against a mammoth problem: the COVID-19 pandemic. That, though, is where — according to Rivers — a miracle unfolded.
“When they filmed in South Africa,” she said, “they actually finished the entire film 24 hours ahead of the COVID shut down, so they were able to complete the whole picture during shut down in private studies to put the whole thing together.”
“The movie’s been ready for a year,” the author added.
Rivers went on to say God’s timing “is always perfect,” noting January 2022 is the appropriate time to release the movie in theaters “because people need hope right now.”
The 74-year-old novelist said she grew up in church but didn’t really “know the Lord” until she became an adult. After coming to Christ in her late 30s, Rivers said she was studying the minor prophets in a home Bible study and was completely overwhelmed by the story of Hosea.
“It just broke me open — that that’s how much God loves us,” she recalled. “So I basically took that biblical story and put it into the Gold Rush period.”
For years, Rivers wrote “steamy, historical romances.” When she became a believer, though, she redirected her talents toward reaching an audience of readers who didn’t know Jesus.
With “Redeeming Love,” Rivers said she wants readers to know God’s love “is even more passionate than we can imagine, and here’s what it looks like.”
However, Rivers quickly learned the differences — and difficulties — between writing a 432-page novel and compiling a script for a movie.
“It was very challenging,” the author said of re-writing her beloved story into script form. “I’m a novelist, of course, so I can write pages and pages of stuff, but with a script, you can only have 120 pages because, basically, each page is one whole minute on the screen.”
Anything else?
As moviegoers walk out of theaters next month, Rivers said she hopes they feel “sincere hope.”
The author said any money she makes as a result of the film will go directly to the Redeeming Love Sanctuary Foundation, which partners other nonprofits working alongside survivors of sex trafficking.
“We want it to be more than just a movie — we want it to have a purpose,” Rivers said, noting that, when she first wrote the novel, she had “no idea” sex trafficking was still as big an issue as it is. “It’s more widespread now than it’s ever been.”
”It’s something we need to fight,” she added. “We need to work together to fight it.”
Watch the latest trailer for “Redeeming Love” below:
***As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up for Faithwire’s daily newsletter and download the CBN News app, developed by our parent company, to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***