The Chronicles of Narnia producer Cary Granat teams up with director David L Cunningham (THE Researcher: The darkness is rising, Run for grace) and Oscar winner visual effects artist Ed Jones (Who framed Roger Rabbit?, Happy feet) on At firsta new based on faith feature-length family action-adventure film that aims to tell the biblical story of creation.

The film will use cutting-edge motion capture and hybrid CGI visual effects to transform the story of Genesis, from the creation of the universe to the Garden of Eden, into an Imax-worthy cinematic event. Cunningham, the son of famous Christian missionary Loren Cunningham (founder of Youth With A Mission), wrote and will direct At first with Granat and Jones, founder of Walden Media, producing with Jonathan E. Lim (My penguin friend). City Hill Arts will produce the film and act as financier.

“For billions (the story of creation) is the blueprint for the origins of life, but it has never been told with the universal and powerful language of a major motion picture,” the producers said. At first will be a call to action to return to the cinema and for those who experience it, and will celebrate themes of gratitude and unity.

The filmmakers plan to combine the biblical creation story, a text common to the Jewish, Christian and Muslim religions, with the latest astrophysical research to be both scriptural and scientifically accurate.

“They met with the Pope twice to talk to him about the project,” says David Garrett of Mister Smith Entertainment. “But they are also consulted with the best astrophysicists at CERN so that what will be depicted on screen resembles what the Big Bang would have actually looked like. It will not be the hands of God that shape the trees and the oceans.

Mr. Smith screened a 15-minute presentation for the film to AFM buyers in Las Vegas Tuesday. They manipulate international sales and present the project as a visually spectacular, PG-friendly theatrical experience, with appeal beyond the (already sizable) faith-based audience.

“It’s designed to be something that speaks not only to evangelicals and Christians, but across the board, even to those who are not believers,” Garrett says.

Faith-based cinema has long since become mainstream, thanks to global successes like Narnia franchises and independent releases like Soul Surfer (2011), Son of God (2014), and the God is not dead franchise.

THE At first filmmakers are already tapping religious groups and churches, including the Vatican, the World Evangelical Alliance, Youth With A Mission and Our Daily Bread, to generate enthusiasm and ticket sales.

Currently in pre-production, At first is scheduled for a global launch in December 2026.