Upcoming Movie: Left Behind

New 'Left Behind' movie will present the rapture with 'clarity;' new trailer released

Producer and writer Paul Lalonde said film will be 'bigger and better' than the last.

Published 06 August 2014 | Brownie Marie

A new trailer was released for the October 3 "Left Behind" film, the latest in a series of movies about the rapture.

This fall's film stars Nicolas Cage and Chad Michael Murray in a more blockbuster version of the popular Christian film series, The Blaze reports.

"A small group of survivors are left behind after millions of people suddenly vanish and the world is plunged into chaos and destruction," the film's synopsis reads on its IMDB page.

The sudden disappearance is the calling of Christians to heaven to be with the Lord, while those left behind face confusion and havoc.

Nicholas Cage plays a pilot, and Chad Michael Murray a journalist who must come to grips with life on Earth after the rapture. "Left Behind" also stars Lea Thompson, Nicky Whelan, Jordin Sparks, Quinton Aaron, and others.

The newest "Left Behind" installment is quite different from the original Kirk Cameron release 14 years ago.

"The reason to bring 'Left Behind' back is [two-fold]: one is to make it bigger and better, so that we can have a broader reach and a shot at a broader audience," producer and writer Paul Lalonde told The Blaze in April. "The first time we did it it was a straight to DVD production."

Religion films, and the rapture, are popular topics in the mainstream media as of late.

HBO series "The Leftovers" follows the lives of people in a fictional New York town who are left behind after their loved ones disappear. The cause for the disappearance is unknown, although the series' premise is similar to "Left Behind".

"The Leftovers" does not have a faith-based approach, however. Some children and pastors remain while other, more unsavory characters, have been taken in the "Sudden Departure".  Families are splintered and mankind becomes increasingly carnal.

Lalonde said the new "Left Behind" film will meet Christian audiences' approval, however.

"I think a lot of the core Christian audience, I think they're going to be surprised at the clarity with which we presented the rapture," he said. "I think people are expecting it to be completely buried and barely mentioned."

Watch the newly released extended trailer for "Left Behind" below.