Having slowly crawled around the festival circuit and the Internet since 2009, popular short film The Butterfly Circus has wrapped itself up in a cozy chrysalis and begun the process of transforming from a hairy little worm into a beautiful, winged, feature-length movie. The film itself doesn’t actually have anything to do with butterflies, though. Instead, it’s about a famous circus troupe traveling around America during the Great Depression. Eventually, the circus comes upon a man without limbs—played by motivational speaker Nick Vujicic—performing at a sideshow, and he joins up with them to help bring hope to the nation’s unemployed bums.
This comes from Variety, which also features a quote from producers Jane Fleming and Mark Ordesky, who highlight The Butterfly Circus’ “vast global audience of fans, which includes the faith and values community that so strongly supported films like Unbroken and The Blind Side.” They also added that this global audience will give the new version a “powerful foundation” that is “almost unheard of for a film not based on a best-selling book or established brand.” Now, Unbroken and The Blind Side are both based on best-selling books, so we’re not sure who they’re taking that shot at, but whatever. The point they’re trying to make is that everyone involved in The Butterfly Circus should start clearing shelf space. You know, for Oscars.
The Butterfly Circus – HD from The Butterfly Circus on Vimeo.