“The Thorn,” a musical drama about Jesus that was created 25 years ago at New Life Church and has since been seen by 250,000 people locally and another million people nationwide, will debut as a film in March on 740 screens.
The film’s trailer will debut nationwide Friday before theater screenings of two new episodes of “The Chosen,” a wildly popular TV drama about Jesus. “Thorn” tickets will go on sale that day at www.fathomevents.com.
For John Bolin, who created a simple version of “The Thorn” as an illustrated sermon in 1997 for his youth group, the film offers a way to reach much larger audiences with the story of Christ’s loving sacrifice after fearing that COVID closures might bring down the curtain on his drama for good.
Youth drama is a hit
Bolin was leading Friday evening youth meetings in 1996 when he joined the staff at New Life. The next year, while struggling to convey the significance of Christ’s sacrificial death to a group of teens, he spoke with a 16-year-old girl who had scars on her arm from cutting and self-harm.
A graduate of Oral Roberts University, which emphasizes drama in evangelism, Bolin sought to help the girl viscerally understand the abuse, whipping and scourging Christ suffered on his way to the cross.
Early versions of the drama were simple. A handful of actors sporting bad makeup and lit by common household lamps acted out a few short scenes that were interspersed with minisermons and music from U2 and Sting recordings. Jesus rose from underneath a grand piano, not from a tomb.
But New Life leaders liked what they saw and asked Bolin to stage a more complete version of “The Thorn” for the church’s 1998 Easter outreach.
The drama was an immediate hit, with attendance of more than 10,000 people in its first year and repeat performances over the next decade. In coming years, the production would grow more complex, featuring trained actors and dancers, pyrotechnics, a rotating 30-foot stage, camels and tigers, and with the help of church volunteers, a cast of 600.
The show also appeared at The Broadmoor World Arena and Pikes Peak Center in an effort to reach unchurched audiences. Touring groups managed by Bolin’s wife, Sarah, took the show to churches and venues across the country. Compassion International signed on as a tour sponsor, and attendees sponsored some 15,000 needy children through the Colorado Springs-based ministry.
From stage to screen
Bolin was born in South Africa to ex-hippie parents — his father, Rod, recorded folk music albums in the 1960s — who came to faith through the Catholic charismatic renewal movement.
He says God gave him his calling: “to tell stories on the page, stage and screen.” His books include novels (“The Eden Project”) and Christian growth guides (“So Loved,” “The Two Doors of Heaven” and “Life Unlimited”). His previous screen credit was as a producer on the 2017 movie “The Resurrection of Gavin Stone.”
Before writing “The Thorn” screenplay, Bolin attended a seminar with acclaimed storyteller Robert McKee. He has since added scenes and revised the musical score.
The film version of “The Thorn” was shot last March in Denver and is in post-production in Los Angeles. The film will reach screens in March through a deal with Fathom Events, the Centennial-based distribution company founded 20 years ago by the country’s three largest movie theater chains.
The film’s scheduled release has reinvigorated the Bolins’ vision for the drama they’ve supported for a quarter century.
“Sarah and I have invested so much in this production over last couple decades, but it got to the point that we were weary, and didn’t know that we had more to give to it,” said Bolin, who credits Sarah with keeping the project going.
“God asked us to trust him, give it up, and open our hands, and promised to make something beautiful happen.” Thorn tickets will go on sale Friday at www.fathomevents.com.
