Cory Asbury's 'Reckless Love' becoming a movie

After "a year of healing," Cory Asbury says he's agreed to turn the story behind his hit worship song 'Reckless Love' into a movie.

Paramount Pictures has acquired the rights to the film, which will be produced by DeVon Franklin and written by J. Mills Goodloe.

Asbury says in an online post that initially, he had rejected the idea of making a movie when first approached by Franklin in 2018. He says he was leery of "taking advantage of the success of a song God had freely given me," as it felt "exploitive" to him.

The film will be based on the true love story between Asbury and his wife Anna. The story, however, also looks at the "fragile relationship" between Asbury and his father. That's something Asbury was mindful of, not wanting to hurt his father. 

"As my conversation with Devon went on, he said a phrase that really struck my heart and caused me to see beyond myself… 'Cory, what if this film is bigger than you and your story? What if it brings healing to your dad & dads all across the world?' I flew to North Carolina the next day to ask my dad’s permission and we wept together. It was the first step toward healing our relationship. Needless to say, I was listening to what God might want to do through the whole thing."

Asbury says that in 2019 he took a sabbatical and it was a time in which "The Father was doing such an incredible work of healing in my heart, unravelling years of brokenness & wrong thinking. In the midst of it, I kept praying for a mouthpiece, a platform, some way to blast the message He was writing in me to the world. I was hoping for a song or a sermon, but He saw something much bigger. DeVon called to let me know he’d found the perfect writer — J. Mills Goodloe. It all made sense. The film was the vehicle God wanted to use to get the message of His love to the world."

'Reckless Love' was released in 2018 and spent 68 weeks on the Hot Christians Songs chart, 18 weeks at number one and 55 weeks in the top 10. 

"The film is about surrender," Asbury says, "about letting go and falling into the reckless love of God. It follows the story of a broken young man who finds God & family at the cost of well… everything. And my wife is the hero, not me."