Wanderlust Productions released a new video Wednesday announcing their plans for a unique and trailblazing release for Darren Wilson’s newest film, Holy Ghost. In the video, Wilson explains the basic concept behind a new strategy for a worldwide release for independent films.
Holy Ghost will be released in various stages:
- An online “digital premiere” on Aug. 9 will be available for $5 to stream anywhere in the world. This premiere will be available for 24 hours only. The idea is for their more ardent fans to have a chance to not only see the movie a month early, but also to excite the fan base to become the marketing machine for the next phase.
- On Sept. 6, Wanderlust will live stream the opening night of their enormous American tour supporting the film. This stream will be free, and will include both the film and a concert with Christian rocker Jake Hamilton, along with a special guest appearance by Brian “Head” Welch from the metal band Korn. This stream will be available for 48 hours.
- The American tour of Holy Ghost will span 15 cities from Sept. 6–Oct. 10 with Wilson and Hamilton appearing at nearly all of them. In conjunction, they hope to have over 500 churches having their own “premiere nights” during that time period. DVDs of the new movie will be available at all of the showings, all around the world.
- On Sept. 16, the DVD itself will be released in Christian bookstores worldwide.
“We threw out everything we thought we knew about releasing a movie,” says Braden Heckman, CEO of Wanderlust, “and recreated a film release from the ground up. What we came up with looks very different from traditional DVD releases, but we hope this will become a new model for other independent filmmakers in a world where all the rules are changing.”
Expectations for this new chapter from Darren Wilson are extremely high, as was made evident by their release of the full trailer for the film on July 2. The trailer, which was released on Facebook, has already been viewed nearly 2 million times in less than two weeks.
“My first three films were really about my own exploration and questions,” says Wilson, “but with this movie, I’ve finally made up my mind, and I’m excited to share a movie with the world that was birthed out of the boldness that can only come from friendship with God.”
Click here to find out how to host a premiere.