Angelina Jolie's wartime biopic, "Unbroken,' has been set for a DVD release this week in the United States, exclusively targeting Christian audiences.
Initially expected to bag numerous Oscar awards, the drama film only landed three technical nominations for this year's event. Nonetheless, Universal pushes the movie forward by unveiling a "Legacy of Faith' edition that is likely to appeal more to Christian moviegoers.
Jolie decided to remove a religious component that was included in Louis Zamperini's original book, a choice that was reportedly not accepted by the Christian community.
"I loved the movie. It was beautiful and brutal at the same time. Angie got all the scenes right," Luke Zamperini said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "But the biggest criticism we got was from people in the faith-based community who read the book and said, "Well, it left out the whole Billy Graham scene.'"
The "Billy Graham scene" refers to the story of a preacher who offered help to Zamperini when he was suffering from post-traumatic disorder and was attempting to deal with his fears by turning to alcohol abuse. Putting considerable pressure on his marriage, the actions of the prisoner-of-war survivor led to his wife nearly divorcing him.
However, after attending one of Graham's sermons in a tent, Zamperini eventually understood the consequences of his deeds and decided to change his life for the better. According to Laura Hillenbrand's book, which the movie is based on, a large portion of the book highlights this element and its overall impact on the American war veteran.
Raking in a fairly successful total gross of $161 million at the global box office, the initial release of the biopic was expected to pull in grater sales if the actress-director had opted to incorporate the said scene into the finished movie.
Jolie had previously explained why such Christian-based scene was removed and a shift to a general form of faith was made.
"We made it universal, not specific to one faith, and that was something that was agreed upon with Louie," the actress stated at the time when the movie was initially released. "He said he wanted the message to reach everyone. He said to make faith and forgiveness universal."
Although the film's special edition does not put the missing preacher character forward, it comes with an additional 90-minute disc that features a description of the events relating to Graham's sermon as well as footage of him and Zamperini spending time together.
Universal has already made a collaborative effort with Christian film production company Pure Flix to distribute the "Unbroken' special edition, making it exclusively available in religious stores.
