For years during their concerts, contemporary christian music sibling duo For King & Country — brothers Joel and Luke Smallbone — have been sharing the story of their family’s immigration from Australia to the United States.
Now, their story is coming to the big screen, as Lionsgate has picked up Kingdom Story Company’s Unsung Hero, which marks the directorial debut for Joel, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Unsung Hero will release April 26, 2024.
Since launching their debut album Crave in 2012, For King & Country has notched 13 No. 1 hits on Billboard‘s Christian Airplay chart, including “God Only Knows” and “For God Is With Us,” and has won four Grammy trophies.
The movie follows the musically talented family, which moved stateside after their father’s music company in Australia dissolved. After moving to Nashville, the duo’s older sister, Rebecca St. James, earned a string of hits in the 1990s and 2000s. The brothers got their start in music by being roadies on their sister’s tours. Unsung Hero centers on the family’s matriarch, Helen Smallbone (played by Daisy Betts), and how her faith and determination played an essential role in the family’s story.
The movie will star Joel portraying his father, David Smallbone, with additional cast members including Jonathan Jackson, Candace Cameron Bure, Kirrilee Berger, Lucas Black, Terry O’Quinn and Lady A’s Hillary Scott. Smallbone and Richard Ramsey direct the film, which is based upon a script Smallbone and Ramsey also wrote together. Producers on the project are Justin Tolley, Josh Walsh and Luke Smallbone.