Now the talks are getting even more heated for his next film. Machine Gun Preacher will be directed by Marc Forster. It is based on the true story Sam Childers, a former drug dealing biker who became a missionary and preacher, and founded an orphanage in the Sudan and a militia to protect the children there.
The film is now set to shoot this summer, and casting is working in over time. Michelle Monaghan is confirmed to be joining the film. She will play Childer’s wife, Lynn, who cleaned up her own demons while Childers did a stretch behind bars, and struggled to keep their family together in Detroit while he went to Africa to establish the orphanage. This is just perfect material for Marc Forster to work with. Michael Shannon was in talks to join the cast playing a close friend of Childers who stayed with his wife while he was away in Africa.
Gerard Butler will play the title character Childers. The script come from playwright Jason Keller who adapted Childers memoir Another Man’s War: The True story of One Man’s Battle to Save Children in the Sudan. The domestic distribution for the film has already been picked up by Lionsgate. This will be something for Gerard Butler to chew into.