Livin' The Bream Podcast · FOX News Podcasts

A Kingdom Story

·23 min·1 clip

Why a filmmaker said 'absolutely not' to a sequel until hearing a story that made him cry.

Shannon Bream opens by welcoming Andy Irwin, a filmmaker she says she has admired from afar for a long time and has come to know as a friend. Irwin responds with clear gratitude and says the feeling is mutual. Bream introduces him as the filmmaker behind movies like I Can Only Imagine, Jesus Revolution, Jesus Music, and American Underdog. She also points to his role as chief creative officer of Kingdom Story Company. The conversation quickly settles on I Can Only Imagine 2. Bream asks how the sequel came together. She also brings up the wider shift in Christian entertainment and faith-based or faith-adjacent projects, and asks what Irwin and his team are placing into the marketplace now. Irwin says the process always includes focus groups. He describes how awkward those screenings can feel when years of work are sitting in a room waiting to be judged. He remembers one older woman in the front row who was very opinionated and asked why Bart could not just get his act together after 15 years. The room went quiet. Then a 45-year-old man raised his hand and said he did not want to start a fight, but that was exactly how he felt as a dad. Other men in the room immediately joined in. That moment showed Irwin that the film was reaching something bigger than a sequel to a hit movie. It was opening a conversation about fatherhood. It was also pointing toward gratitude for the journey. Irwin says the story is really about a father fighting for his son in the middle of a larger narrative. Bream picks up that thread and reflects on how stories in Scripture can give people courage and hope. The discussion moves to the song "Even If." Irwin says that line comes from the book of Daniel. He points to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego facing the fiery furnace. They believed God could deliver them, but they also said they would not bend their knee even if he did not. Irwin says the deeper message is that God is in the fire with them. He ties that to the film's larger hope. No matter what someone is going through, they are not alone. Bream responds as a Christian listener might, talking through the hard part of surrender and trust. The conversation stays warm, personal, and direct. It keeps circling back to family, conviction, and hope. The closing note makes clear that I Can Only Imagine 2 is coming in February.

As heard by us

A sequel conversation that turns fatherhood, gratitude, and Daniel into the film's real draw.

Livin' The Bream uses Andy Irwin's visit to make I Can Only Imagine 2 feel less like a sequel pitch and more like a talk about fatherhood, gratitude, and the way faith films reach family pain.

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Want a faith-forward movie conversation that lands on dads, gratitude, and hope?

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