By Leah MarieAnn Klett, Assistant Editor Friday, February 21, 2025

NEW YORK — "I Can Only Imagine 2," the highly anticipated sequel to the 2018 box office success "I Can Only Imagine," will soon begin production and pick up where the last film ended, focusing on MercyMe's second biggest hit, "Even If."

Speaking to The Christian Post at the red carpet premiere of his film "The Unbreakable Boy," producer Kevin Downes said Lionsgate and Kingdom Story Company are set to begin production on the film in the coming weeks. 

The first film, a faith-based drama that grossed over $83 million domestically, told the powerful true story of MercyMe lead singer Bart Millard and the creation of the band's iconic song. Downes and co-directors Andrew Erwin and Brent McCorkle are ready to continue the journey, exploring the next chapter of Millard's life and music.

"In six weeks. Andy Erwin and I start on a sequel for 'I Can Only Imagine 2,'" Downes said. "We're excited. We're fully cast up. We're ready to go into the continuing story where the first one left off, the Bart Millard story."

The sequel will again star John Michael Finley as Bart Millard, with Dennis Quaid reprising his role as Millard's father, Arthur, and Trace Adkins returning as MercyMe's manager, Scott Brickell. In a surprising addition, Milo Ventimiglia ("This Is Us," "Rocky Balboa") has joined the cast as Christian musician Tim Timmons, a key figure in MercyMe's journey. 

"The addition of Milo Ventimiglia to the cast to play Tim Timmons is going to be so extraordinary," Downes said. "That dude is so all in, we're pinching ourselves. It's just going to be one of those fun experiences to film because we know the movie is going to be good."

The first film delved into Millard's troubled past, his father's transformation through faith, and the creation of "I Can Only Imagine," the best-selling Christian single of all time. The sequel, Downes confirmed, will follow MercyMe's next chapter and the song that defined it.

"The song that we focus on starts with 'Imagine,' so you're going to get all the feels of the height of 'I Can Only Imagine' when it was released," Downes explained. "And then the song it ends up tracking is their second biggest hit, which was called 'Even If.' I love the script — there are so many entry points character-wise into it."

MercyMe's "Even If" was another chart-topping song that offered a poignant message of faith in the face of suffering. The song was inspired by Millard's experience with his son's illness, a deeply personal struggle that shaped the band's music and ministry. 

"My son, Sam, is 15 years old, and he's been a diabetic since he was 2. When you're a parent of a child with any kind of chronic illness, these things don't go away. You have a lot of good days, but some days you feel like you're losing bad. I was in the midst of one of those bad days when 'Even If' was written," Millard previously said of the song.

Lyrics include the lines: "They say it only takes a little faith/ To move a mountain/ Well good thing/ A little faith is all I have, right now/ But God, when You choose/ To leave mountains unmovable/ Oh give me the strength to be able to sing/ It is well with my soul. ... I know You're able and I know You can/ Save through the fire with Your mighty hand/ But even if You don't/ My hope is You alone."

In 2018, Millard applauded filmmakers for doing what he termed a "great job with a redemption story, adding: "It's kind of scary making a faith-based film. I didn't want it to be low-hanging fruit or kind of a corny movie, and I think they did a really great job of capturing the emotion. There were some scenes for me, in watching the film, that made me really uncomfortable — because I was kind of reliving it, and I think that's a sign of a job well done."

"I Can Only Imagine 2" is being helmed by directors McCorkle and Erwin, who co-wrote the screenplay with Millard. Kingdom Story Company, which Downes co-founded with the Erwin brothers, continues its mission of telling faith-driven stories that inspire and uplift.

Downes told CP the creative team behind the film believes "I Can Only Imagine 2" will resonate just as strongly as the original. "We know the film is going to be good," he said. "I can't wait. It's going to be great."

News Source : https://www.christianpost.com/news/i-can-only-imagine-2-will-focus-on-mercyme-hit-even-if.html