The crux challenge of casting TriStar Pictures’ new mystery drama “Heaven Is For Real” was the search for a very special child who could play real-life character, Colton Burpo, with the natural, easy-going innocence that made his story so persuasive.

In the film, 7-year-old Colton is rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery and miraculously survives. But his family is wholly unprepared for what happens next -- Colton starts to matter-of-factly recount what he says was an amazing journey to heaven and back.

“Finding Colton was a huge challenge because the movie could not succeed if Colton seemed artificial. If you believed that he was just reciting lines, you would never believe any of what he was saying,” director Randall Wallace explains.

Casting director Sheila Jaffe launched a search across America – but it wasn’t until the very end that they found their Colton. “We saw a lot of tapes and finally got down to eight boys. Seven boys were very similar to one another but one boy was different,” remembers producer Joe Roth.

That one boy was then five year-old Cleveland native Connor Corum. “He was incredibly natural, and he wasn’t thrown by anything. Once we saw him there was no choice – he was the kid,” Roth continues.

When actor Greg Kinnear started working with Connor he was enthralled by his lack of artifice. “He’s kind of the greatest version of an actor, in the sense that everything that he does is on instinct, it’s effortless, it’s just kind of there without any artificiality to it. It really makes me mad,” he quips.

Much as this opportunity was a thrill for Connor, his mother Shannon says they were cautious about it at first. “Initially, it was a mixed bag of emotions. There was certainly some concern about whether we were thrusting our son into the limelight and also about whether he would be able to stay grounded and enjoy his childhood,” she recalls. “On the other hand, it was pure excitement and joy and something really positive for our family. My grandfather, who turned 95 last October, was thrilled. He’s a very spiritual man and I really feel like this has given him something wonderful to focus on in his life.”

Working with Connor came naturally for Wallace, who helped to set the family at ease. “I’m the father of sons and I’m a little boy myself still, at heart, so I wanted Connor to come onto the set and feel that he was part of a great, big family,” he says.

Wallace continues: “He’s a brilliant young man. He always came to set prepared and Greg was wonderful working with Connor. Sometimes I would say ‘action’ and we’d film the scene and the magic would happen right there. Other times Connor would be full of energy, distracted and bouncing off the walls and we’d have to wait and let him calm down. What ultimately happened, when he forgot that it was a movie, he just began to be that character in that space, which is what we want of any actor, and then he was riveting.”

Opening across the Philippines on Black Saturday, April 19, “Heaven is for Real” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

Right from the start, the filmmakers of TriStar Pictures' new mystery drama “Heaven is for Real” knew if they were going to bring the best-seller of the same title to contemporary audiences they would need a crack cast to truly bring the Burpo family's true story and their unusual predicament to life.

Todd Burpo would be especially challenging to cast, as a devoted but down-to-earth family man sent reeling by a riveting mystery when his son begins to talk of his trip to heaven. Director Randall Wallace says that the first name that came to mind was Greg Kinnear. Kinnear came to the fore in a series of sparkling comic roles in “As Good As It Gets” and “Little Miss Sunshine,” went on to portray a wide range of memorable characters and is currently starring as an outspoken lawyer on television’s “Rake.”

But for all his comic chops and affable charm, Wallace felt there was an underlying genuineness to Kinnear that was key to the role. “I had known Greg from working with him on `We Were Soldiers,'” the director explains. “I wanted someone who could embody the masculinity of Todd -- a guy who installs garage doors for the mainstay of his living -- but who could also be a loving, thoughtful, sensitive father. And I also was looking for someone who could speak with the power, conviction and charisma of a pastor. For all that, I thought Greg was just the perfect guy.”

Kinnear was drawn in by the reality of the family’s dilemma as they try to figure out what to do with this shocking information their son is telling them. “I liked the way the story is told in a very human, accessible way,” the actor says. “It’s the story of a family who experiences something extraordinary. One thing Randall is so good at is creating moments of humor, humanity and decency for this family, while also getting at the larger questions.”

As he explored Todd’s quandary with his son, Kinnear could understand his refusal to simply dismiss Colton’s words as just a boyhood dream or medication side effect. “It’s important to point out that Colton was then a four year-old kid, so there was no affectation, nothing artificial about what he was saying. It was complete innocence,” notes Kinnear. “And while children at that age can have huge imaginations, they also say things that you know they believe with all their heart. So it’s really interesting to play a father trying to sift through what’s real and what’s not in this kind of event.”

He was also intrigued by what Todd must confront within himself in the film -- as he moves from an anxiety and confusion to a man lit up by his renewed sense of purpose. “What’s interesting is that the events that take place ask Todd to go further than he ever anticipated going, to dig deeper than he had any expectation of doing, and I found that fascinating,” Kinnear says, “and even more so because of the ramifications for the whole community.”

As Todd starts to come forward with Colton’s observations of heaven, he watches as it sparks conflict and opens up rifts in the town and his church – and he wonders how he can approach this impasse both as a man of God and simply as a man. “This is a small town,” comments Kinnear. “There’s a strong sense of support, and of everybody lending each other a hand, in this kind of place -- but it also ups the stakes. So that creates some challenges for the Burpo family. When Todd starts to talk openly about what Colton saw, people have many different interpretations of it and different feelings about it. And some people don’t even want to have the conversation, but Todd increasingly feels that he has this bigger story he needs to find a way to tell.”

In the end, much like Wallace, Kinnear see the story of “Heaven Is For Real” as being not just about looking towards heaven but also about how to live in the grace of the here and now. “Whatever your feelings on the afterlife, I think this film captures the beauty that is all around us through the eyes of this little boy and what he is seeing,” he summarizes.

Opening across the Philippines on Black Saturday, April 19, “Heaven is for Real” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

Randall Wallace, the Oscar®-nominated writer of “Braveheart” now directs TriStar Pictures' mystery film “Heaven Is For Real” which is based on a non-fiction book that has inspired millions across the globe.

The film stars Greg Kinnear as Todd Burpo, a small-town businessman, volunteer firefighter and pastor struggling to make ends meet in a tough year for his family. After his bright young son Colton (newcomer Connor Corum in his feature film debut) is rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery, Todd and his wife Sonja (Kelly Reilly) are overjoyed by his miraculous survival. But they are wholly unprepared for what happens next -- Colton starts to matter-of-factly recount what he says was an amazing journey to heaven and back. As Colton innocently tells his parents details of things he couldn't possibly know, Todd finds himself colliding against a wall of mystery and doubt, until he breaks through to rediscover hope, wonder and the strength of purpose.

While millions of readers have come away from the book Heaven Is For Real with a thrilling sense of deepened convictions, Randall Wallace is well aware that not everyone will interpret the things Colton saw during his surgery the same way – and the script wrangles with those very same doubts.

“There are going to be people who will be immediately skeptical,” Wallace acknowledges. “I certainly have been skeptical of different elements of the story -- what the characters said happened, what they believed happened, what they reported experiencing . . . I questioned everything. But one of the features of any great story is that it has mystery and suspense. It’s that questioning that keeps us moving forward in this story . . . and in life.”

For Wallace, the full power of “Heaven Is For Real” comes down not only to what Colton says he saw in heaven, but even more so to how his story has touched, and changed, so many lives here on earth. “Ultimately the issue every person faces in this world is what am I going to do with this breath that I am taking now, with this heart I have, with these thoughts I have? What am I going to do with this life? What happened to Colton makes us think about these things,” he concludes.

As the script progressed, Wallace also began to develop a ground rule for the production. “When we started this process, the one thing that I said to everybody who came aboard the film was, ‘remember the title: Heaven Is For Real.’ I always felt this needed to be a real story about real people -- so it was vital that every scene, every action and every word feel a part of everyday life.”

While the film is destined to bring Colton’s disarming message about heaven to many more people, the Burpos also know the film’s release will also raise more questions they’ll have to tackle – something they don’t mind doing. (Colton himself is now in high school and continues to speak openly about his experiences.)

“We feel we’ve planted a seed, or at least presented it, and people have an opportunity to believe it or not,” explains Todd Burpo.

For Wallace, the bottom line was presenting the Burpo’s story in an authentic, compelling way, and leaving the rest open to personal contemplation and community conversation in the aftermath. “What I think will draw people to `Heaven Is For Real' is the idea that they’re going to be captivated by a story. People want to be moved, they want to be grabbed, and they want to be spoken to from the heart,” he summarizes.

Opening across the Philippines on Black Saturday, April 19, “Heaven is for Real” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

In 2010, a book by an unknown author – fueled entirely by word-of-mouth and the fiery enthusiasm of curious and inspired readers – suddenly and from out of the blue hit the vaunted #1 position on the New York Times best-seller list. This was Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent’s Heaven Is For Real and it would go on to sell millions of copies with over 10 million in print worldwide and to be translated into 35 languages, while sparking lively conversations about the nature of life, faith and eternity among families and communities everywhere.

Now, TriStar Pictures' new drama “Heaven Is For Real” brings to the screen the true story that has inspired millions across the globe – that of a little boy’s extraordinary, life-changing experience, and his father’s search for the courage and conviction to share his son’s discovery with the world.

The soaring journey of the book began with a parent’s worst nightmare: a sick little boy doctors said was unlikely to pull through. But little Colton did pull through and that was just the beginning of his surprises. After he recovered, the 4 year-old began to tell an incredible story: that during his touch-and-go surgery he had gone to heaven and been shown a realm of indescribable beauty and supreme peace, even meeting deceased relatives he had never known personally.

At first, the Burpos were unsure what to make of their son’s revelations. He had such a childlike innocence when talking about it, they were 100% convinced he wasn’t making it up. But even though they were already people of faith – indeed, Todd served as a pastor in their small Nebraska town – they were suddenly confronted with questions they had never really considered. Sure, they had talked and thought plenty about heaven in the abstract; but was it possible their son had experienced it for real? And if he had unlocked one of life’s greatest mysteries . . . should they, and how could they, share this bewildering event with a world prone to disbelief and skepticism?

It was this part of Todd Burpo’s journey – through a storm of doubt and into standing up for his son and his own hard-won convictions – that intrigued the filmmakers behind the book’s screen adaptation. They saw a story that nearly anyone who has wondered about life, death and the meaning of it all, or ever took a risk for their deepest beliefs, could relate to on a personal level.

Veteran Hollywood producer Joe Roth initially read about the Burpos in a two-paragraph item about the book even before it was published. Having produced dozens of hit films since the 1970s, Roth’s instincts were instantly set in motion.

“I’ve had a habit these past 40 years of reading the New York Times book section in the hope that I’ll come across something that nobody else has thought of – and up until now it’s never worked because by the time it makes the Times someone’s already bought it,” Roth recounts. “But when I read about this book, it seemed like such a terrific idea for a movie. It poses a question everybody asks: what happens when you die? It doesn’t matter what religion or background you come from, or whether you lived 2000 years ago or in 2014, it’s a question that intrigues everyone. “

The nature of the Burpo family, pillars of the community in a small heartland town, made it even more relatable and inherently dramatic, Roth felt. “Here you have a pastor who when confronted with his son’s story, wasn’t really quite sure he if believed it himself and was in conflict about whether he should stir up the townspeople, or simply put it aside,” Roth explains. “And he did the unsafe thing, which was appealing to me -- he backed his son’s vision even though it could have potentially lost him his job and made him quite unpopular in the town.”

Roth was thrilled to find he was the first major producer to approach the Burpos – and just four weeks after he made a deal with them, his instincts were rewarded, when the book hit #1 on the bestseller list, demonstrating its broad cultural appeal.

Opening across the Philippines on Black Saturday, April 19, “Heaven is for Real” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

Based on the #1 New York Times best-selling book of the same name, TriStar Pictures' new drama “Heaven Is For Real” brings to the screen the true story that has inspired millions across the globe – that of a little boy’s extraordinary, life-changing experience, and his father’s search for the courage and conviction to share his son’s discovery with the world.

Academy Award®-nominee and Emmy® Award-winner Greg Kinnear (“As Good As It Gets,” “Little Miss Sunshine”) stars as Todd Burpo, a small-town businessman, volunteer firefighter and pastor struggling to make ends meet in a tough year for his family. After his bright young son Colton (newcomer Connor Corum in his feature film debut) is rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery, Todd and his wife Sonja (Kelly Reilly) are overjoyed by his miraculous survival.

But they are wholly unprepared for what happens next -- Colton starts to matter-of-factly recount what he says was an amazing journey to heaven and back. As Colton innocently tells his parents details of things he couldn't possibly know, Todd finds himself colliding against a wall of mystery and doubt, until he breaks through to rediscover hope, wonder and the strength of purpose.

“Heaven is For Real” is directed by Randall Wallace, the Oscar®-nominated writer of “Braveheart.” The screenplay is by Randall Wallace and Christopher Parker, based on the book by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent.

Joining Kinnear, Reilly and Corum in the cast are Emmy® Award-winner Margo Martindale (“August: Osage County”), Academy Award® nominee Thomas Haden Church (“Spider-Man 3”), and music by Nick Glennie-Smith.

For the filmmakers, the idea of audiences taking away a visceral uplift became the most essential consideration in the film's storytelling. “I think we all believe this story will connect with people in an amazing way,” notes producer T.D. Jakes. “It is a story about courage, a story about fear and faith and how they often cohabit within the realm of one human being – and how we work that out.”

Adds TriStar Pictures executive DeVon Franklin: “In the midst of all of the blockbusters and superhero films, I think this film will find a place with audiences because it taps into universal questions: ‘Who are we? What happens after we die? How do we deal with loss?’ I think if you’re a family, you’re going to see your struggle on the screen, but we’re not going to leave you there. It’s not just about showing the struggle, it’s also about showing the hope and the love.”

For director and co-writer Randall Wallace, love is the central element that everyone can experience in the Burpos’ intriguing story, even as they explore what Colton saw from their own perspectives. “It’s really about the idea that we just might find out that life is greater than we have ever imagined,” Wallace sums up. “And that we might not only find love, but we might also find how to give love – that, to me, is the essence of faith.”

Opening across the Philippines on Black Saturday, April 19, “Heaven is for Real” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.