Filmmaker Dallas Jenkins' latest project is his most explicitly faith-based movie.

With a theme similar to the classic It's a Wonderful Life, new film What if... stars Kevin Sorbo (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys) as a successful businessman who awakens to an alternative life as a pastor. The film releases on DVD from PureFlix Entertainment this month.

The production is "the first film where I totally embraced the explicitly Christian elements of a story," said Jenkins, who produced and directed. "In the past I've tried to get cute in that regard, but I just went for it in this film, not worrying about how it'd come across to the mainstream market. And I ended up not only making my best film, but a film that was more embraced by the mainstream than any film I've done, even though it's by far the most 'Christian market'-friendly film I've done."

Though the second-chance theme is familiar, "the most obvious difference is the element of faith; in this story, God the Creator is the cause of and center of the storyline, and we have a lot of scenes that take place in a church and in the home of a pastor, which is something you don't often see in films," Jenkins said.

"But more than that, the 'living in an alternate reality' set-up of this story is really just a backdrop; yes, it's a familiar set-up, but the characters and situations that develop are unique and are the primary focus. Ultimately, it's a story of a man finding his true calling."

Read more in the April issue of Christian Retailing.

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