We are very lucky that the Hillsong documentary from Warner Bros was pulled.
We’ve observed how Brian Houston rewrites Hillsong’s history in his books and sermons to make their movement look flawless. That is why even in articles like the one below people have difficulty getting their facts straight on Hillsong’s questionable past. We have not seen Hillsong to this date ever give people their true history.
Considering therefore how Hillsong’s leaders play loose with the truth regarding the history of their church, it would be hard for Warner Bros to present an honest portrayal of the Hillsong Church and it’s musical successes without some form of backlash.
TheMusic.com writes,
Hillsong Documentary No Longer On The Cards For Warner Bros
An impending documentary about Christian mega-church Hillsong and its ubiquitous musical arm, Hillsong United, has been dropped from the release schedule of production house Warner Bros, it has been reported.
According to Variety, the planned flick, directed by Michael John Warren and titled Hillsong: Let Hope Rise, was due for release on Wednesday, 1 April (ahead of the all-important Easter weekend), a date it has apparently had booked since July last year.
Neither the studio nor film rights-holders Alcon Entertainment have issued a statement in response to the move.
Hillsong was founded in 1983 by Brian and Bobbie Houston, and is presently led by the couple’s son, Joel. It has, in its lifetime, grown into a worldwide collective boasting 12 locations and weekly attendance rates somewhere in the vicinity of 100,000 people total.
It’s not all been miracles and unlimited fish for Hillsong of late, though — Brian Houston made headlines last year after allegedly failing to report child sex abuse committed by his late father, Frank, which consequently led royal commission senior counsel to advise that he “should be referred to police for investigation” in late December. However, it should be noted that consequently no charges have been filed, and there is no official indication the issue influenced Warner Bros’ decision or that it is in any way connected.
Source: Hillsong Documentary No Longer On The Cards For Warner Bros, http://themusic.com.au/news/all/2015/01/15/hillsong-documentary-no-longer-on-the-cards-for-warner-bros/, 15/01/2015. (Accessed 16/01/2015.)
On less serious news, people currently appear to be more obsessed with Mr Sparkle then Hillsong. At least Mr Sparkle is more memorable than a Brian Houston sermon and has at least seared Galatians 5:1 into peoples hearts and minds.
Hillsong Church Watch 
I was a major critic of this website and yourselves, but God has finally revealed to us how bad this church really is, when we heard that this film was going to be released something just didn’t feel right, and then we started to notice the cracks appearing, the over inflated Egos, and the need to put someone on a pedestal, and also the need to feel like you need to be on one, God doesn’t need promoting, yes we need to spread the Gospel, but must be done properly, he doesn’t need Smoke and mirrors to reveal himself, he doesn’t need good looking surfer types with flawless hair and hipster beards, he just needs people that say hey God, “Send me” but with this church unless you fit into their “Vision” Forget it! unless you are deep within their Clique/Cult then forget it, we were too headstrong as a family to be fooled by their tricks and have subsequently Left the Church for a great new Bible based Church in our area, with no distractions and silly shows/Ego’s to contend with….. Be Blessed……. Anon – London UK
Great to hear Anon! May God bless you in your obedience and you remain faithful to His Word for your family’s sake.
Hi Anon.. It was good to read your comment. Hope you will enjoy being part of this new Bible church!
Bereans from Sydney Australia!😃
Churchwatcher
i found this on the hillsong website.
Statement from Hillsong Church re: ‘Let Hope Rise’ movie
The producers of the movie ‘Let Hope Rise’, have advised us that while Warner Bros is no longer distributing the movie, there are ongoing positive discussions with other distributors, who have indicated their interest in this project from the start. From Hillsong’s perspective, we have always been in awe that people would be interested in making a movie about our journey, and we remain humbled that there is still such strong interest. That said, this movie and everything else we do, all has one purpose only, and that is pointing people to Jesus. This is and always will be, our priority.
A message from the producers of Hillsong – Let Hope Rise
Sometimes the biggest challenge of producing a film isn’t actually making the movie. (That part is coming along beautifully – as everyone will soon see when we release the trailer in a couple weeks.) In reality, distributing and marketing a film worldwide has a ton of moving parts. As has been reported, unfortunately we just couldn’t make a deal that was agreeable to all parties. This happens sometimes. The good news is that we are almost done with the film and already entertaining offers from several other studios. Stay tuned, as we expect to have news on that shortly.
Of course there are “ongoing positive discussions with other distributors”.
Then we may just see it go straight to DVD release (with every Hillsong fan worldwide buying a copy? $$$$$$$$)
Why straight to DVD? So many less than guaranteed box office success movies often do.
“Direct-to-video releases have historically carried a stigma of lower technical or artistic quality than theatrical releases. Some films released direct to video are films which have been completed but were never released in movie theaters. This delay often occurs when a studio doubts a film’s commercial prospects justify a full cinema release, or because its release window has closed. In film industry slang, such films are referred to as having been “vaulted”.”
Interesting to see how this all pans out, Mr Hatch!
And maybe there will be many big (church) screen viewings worldwide (instead of preaching)?
Excuse me while I go pray about being too cynical.
I suppose the public interest about frank houston, brian’s ‘allah’ comments, the Royal commission, tweeting and deleting, obscure answers to the gay question and ongoing issues within hillsong made this documentary too hard to ‘sell’.
I doubt if any of these issues or the whole truth would be shown, let alone addressed.
With a good amount of Fiction, It may have to be included in the “Godsploitation” genre of films.
Don’t give up your day job mr sparkle.
Churchwatcher
yes there maybe a lot of church screenings, i heard the story from hillsong united online that the producer guy came to one of their services got saved and decided to make a film about them.
but this film isnt really about hillsong church, its about the success of hillsong music.
16 million albums sold, the music has become more important than the message of the church itself the gospel.
the music should never take over the gospel, yet it has. as much as i really like some of the music from hillsong.
music is being used to sell this church to millions of people all around the world. its like the starbucks of christianity.
its a brand, all over australia where you guys are based to the uk where i am and way beyond.
no church should be more important than jesus himself.
“music is being used to sell this church to millions of people all around the world. its like the starbucks of christianity.
no church should be more important than jesus himself.”
when any organization resorts to tricking visitors to lure them in the door (BAIT & SWITCH), that should be a BIG RED FLAG to any sensible person that darkness lurks nearby..
nfg
If the church uses music or drama to attract people into the church (in my opinion) it is not inherently wrong…
but if the gospel is not preached and encouraged to be followed at all cost, then we have missed the boat.
1Cor 15:1-11
3For I passed on to you as most important what I also recieved :
That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.
4 that He was buried,
that He was raised on the third day
According to the Scriptures….etc
Mathew 28:18-20
19 Go, therefore making disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching to observe everything I have commanded you….etc
Have we preached everything that Jesus taught us to observe? Most probably not!
Some of us (The church) have deviated from the gospel out of fear, or popularity or political correctness.
I hope and pray for those that has left the gospel of Christ before it is too late!
Have you see the latest? http://hillsong.com/blogs/collected/2015/january/were-in-the-business-of-souls#.VMJIpi7dU-U
Apparently Church must have a Corporate communications structure in order to win the Lost
Prayer needed please….
Thank you. We’ve now grabbed and sourced the article. There is more in that article that is revealed than meets the eye. We will cover it soon.
“We are very lucky that the Hillsong documentary from Warner Bros was pulled.”
Actually to be sure this had nothing to do with “luck.”
What this really does for me is it proves even more these Hillsong people do not “hear from God”, because if they did, one of their major projects would not have been “deep-six’ed.”
i had problems with the links, the controversy of this church will run and run.
here is the post below in full.
The Hillsong Movie “Let Hope Rise” found a home yesterday when Relativity Studios announced it will distribute Cantinas Entertainment, Grace Hill Media and MediaWeaver Entertainment’s film on the famed worship team, and it will premiere nationwide on May 29, 2015.
“We are excited to share HILLSONG – LET HOPE RISE with moviegoers across the U.S. Chronicling this Christian band’s humble beginnings to their present day worldwide ministry is truly remarkable and worthy of their story being told on the big screen,” said Matt Alvarez, the overseer of the project for Relativity Studios.
“HILLSONG – LET HOPE RISE” is directed by Michael John Warren (Jay-Z’s “Fade to Black”), and chronicles the unlikely rise to prominence of the Australian-based Christian band, Hillsong UNITED, which emerged out of the life of Hillsong Church. The music of Hillsong Church is so popular it is estimated that on any Sunday, more than 50 million churchgoers around the globe are singing their songs.
The movie will document the band as they labor to record their next album and explores the 30-year history of Hillsong. The film is produced by Jonathan Bock of Grace Hill Media, Matthew Weaver and Ben Field. The film was brought to Relativity Studios by Weaver (Rock of Ages, Jiro Dreams of Sushi), whose MediaWeaver Entertainment company has a first-look deal with the studio. B. Wayne Hughes, Jr. and Greg Campbell of Cantinas Entertainment, which is financing the feature, are executive producing along with Phil Cooke of Cooke Pictures.
“Cantinas’ mission is to amplify hope by delivering quality entertainment to a broad spectrum of audiences. As our first theatrical release, HILLSONG – LET HOPE RISE fulfills that mission, and then some. And we feel Relativity is a perfect fit to make our dream a reality,” said Greg Campbell, Cantinas Entertainment Co-Founder and CEO in a press release.
The group is led by Joel Houston, son of Hillsong Church founders and global senior pastors Brian and Bobbie Houston. All of Hillsong UNITED’s band members are volunteers or employees of the church. Their latest album, “Zion,” reached #1 on the iTunes albums charts and produced the hit “Oceans,” which topped Billboard’s Christian singles chart for 45 straight weeks. Hillsong Church has churches in 14 major cities and more than 100,000 weekly attendees, including thriving congregations in New York and Los Angeles. In addition to its music efforts, Hillsong sponsors worldwide ministry work – outreaches paid for in part through proceeds from Hillsong music and merchandise sales.
Read more: http://www.breathecast.com/articles/hillsong-let-hope-rise-movie-finds-distribution-home-with-relativity-studios-release-date-announced-video-25513/#ixzz3TXK3iMHS
this is more like a record company and its rock band, than a church.
writtenbymyself – I deleted the problem links for you, and yes – saw the story yesterday and already noted that Brian Houston has it on his twitter stream etc. It will be a sellout at the Hillsong Conferences worldwide, won’t it?
Can’t imagine who else would buy it.