'I Can Only Imagine 2' was too good of a story to not make a movie about it

MercyMe lead singer Bart Millard didn't realize there was a movie in his life story.

He wrote the best-selling Christian song of all time, "I Can Only Imagine," based on his story, but he still never thought it was a movie.

Until it was.

The movie of the same name released in 2018 to critical acclaim and was one of the highest-grossing faith-based films. Once the fanfare died down, Millard continued to make music and tour with his MercyMe bandmates.

Then he was approached about a sequel. He said no. Director Andrew Erwin said no.

"I wouldn't have thought there was a story in the first one," Millard said. "I mean, who sits around going, 'I have a story, like a movie worth making.' No. And so, and the, the first one was not a fluke, but I'm like, well, that was fun. None of us thought there was more to tell."

Fast forward to Feb. 20, 2026, the release date of "I Can Only Imagine 2."

Turns out, Millard (and co-writer Tim Timmons) had written another movie-worthy song called "Even If."

Not another 'cheesy' sequel

Erwin, half of the producer/director duo the Erwin brothers who founded the Franklin-based independent film and television studio Kingdom Story Company, said he was resistant to revisiting the first movie because so many sequels can be "gimmicky" or "cheesy."

"I just didn't want to go back without a reason," he added.

Cindy Bond, a producer on the first movie, kept pushing the team for another "I Can Only Imagine" movie. She wasn't sure what the storyline would be until she landed on "Even If."

"They pitched me the story and by the end of it I was in tears," Erwin said.

That story is three-fold and beautifully woven together in the film. Millard's son Sam was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at a young age and managing the disease became a life-altering experience for the entire Millard family. That plays into the father/son dynamic fans of the first movie will remember.

"The fresh part of the story was there was more story to tell with the father/son dynamic, but now Bart as a father," Erwin said.

Then there is singer/songwriter Tim Timmons. His life story is so unbelievable it seems fabricated specifically for a good movie plot. But the fact that it's a true story makes an even better one. Timmons' story illustrates the battle of juggling grief and gratitude at the same time.

Tim Timmons has a song idea and a dream

Timmons, (played beautifully by "This Is Us" actor Milo Ventimiglia in the film) was a budding singer/songwriter back in 2001, when he landed an opening spot on a MercyMe tour. He was so excited and optimistic he was almost annoying to Millard, who was suffering from career burnout and writers' block.

He had started a song he wanted Millard to help him finish. He gave Millard a CD demo of what he'd written and asked him repeatedly if he had finished the song yet. In a pivotal scene in the movie, Millard reveals to Timmons he hadn't even listened to it. He then goes on a rant about how Timmons doesn't know all the pressures he is dealing with.

Timmons' response: "Bart, I have cancer."

And in the same breath, he reveals to Millard he and his wife are expecting their first child. His prognosis is not good and he's facing all the things he might miss out on with his wife and child. Despite that, every day, Timmons wrote a black X on his wrist as a sign of his gratitude for another day.

Shortly after Timmons reveals his cancer diagnosis in the film, he collapses and has to be rushed to the hospital. Millard grabs the CD. Listens to the half-written song and finishes it on the spot.

I know You're able and I know You can / Save through the fire with Your mighty hand / But even if You don't / My hope is You alone.

"Even If" would land at the No. 1 spot on the Billboard charts and become MercyMe's second-biggest single."

Timmons' character says in the film that he just wanted to write something that would help people.

Country and Christian singer Anne Wilson can attest to the fact that he did.

"My brother passed away in 2017 and my family and I were in the truck and we decided to turn on Christian radio," Wilson said. "It was a moment of faith. Even in tragedy, we want to worship God and 'Even If' came on the radio. It was the first time we'd heard it and it was exactly what we needed to hear. When we reflect on that time in our lives, that's the song that got us through."

'We feel seen'

Another layer to the gratitude/grief storyline is the Millard family learning how to deal with their son's diabetes diagnosis. Introducing the very real struggle that comes with a diabetes diagnosis has made many families feel seen, according to Millard.

"So many people feel like they don't have the right to complain or struggle because their kid's still around. It could be worse," he said. "But it's still a chronic illness that eats away at you."

He said when they started making the film and introducing the diabetes part of his family's story, he realized he was speaking up for a lot of people who feel the same way.

"It's amazing already at the screenings we've had, the amount of people that I've talked to that are like, I have a diabetic son or I'm a diabetic, and they wept," he said. "They told me 'You got it right.' I don't know if diabetes like this has ever been portrayed in a movie."

Millard's son Sam says he remembers the strain diabetes put on he and his parents because they went from "happy life" to "keep him alive" survival mode every day.

However, the gravity of the situation didn't hit him until they started shooting the film, which was mostly filmed in and around Nashville. He walked behind the camera and saw all the prop boxes that read "Sam type 1."

"It was just movie props of old insulin cartridges and old needles from that time period," he said. "I'm looking at all the stuff J. Michael Finley, who plays my dad, has to use on screen. And I think watching it play out, it was like I've never really thought about how hard it could have been as a parent having to keep up with this."

The reward for pulling back the curtain on his life struggles came at a recent movie screening.

"This mom walks up with her young daughter who is probably 5 and she had the insulin equipment on her arm and she was like, 'Thank you for putting this out there. Because now my daughter feels like someone is like her,'" he said, "What an honor and a privilege to be able to bring this to people who feel seen by it."

Independent film studio reaches the world from Franklin

Kingdom Story Company is the movie studio behind films such as "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever," "Jesus Revolution" and both "I Can Only Imagine" movies. They partner with Lionsgate for distribution of their primarily faith-based films.

Erwin remembers having a whole sales pitch ready to try to convince Lionsgate to come on board with the movie.

"When we pitched it, we had this whole big song and dance routine and we're on Zoom and we get 30 seconds in and they stop us and they're like, 'Guys, we're, totally gonna make this movie'," he said. "We had to like cancel the marching band we had lined up."

But for Erwin, realizing the song originated with his longtime friend Timmons, making this movie was personal. And added a layer of stress to ensure he got it right.

"Tim's story being the catalyst for this was amazing," he said. "For those of us that have known him, he's aways the encourager behind the scenes. We've all known what he has gone through with his health and his journey, but his life philosophy of gratitude we have all embraced because it is contagious."

So how did Timmons begin to write such an encouraging song at the darkest point in his life? He drew inspiration from Horatio Spafford, who in 1873 wrote one of Timmons' favorite hymns, "It is Well With My Soul." The hymn has an amazing backstory of evolving out of tragedy. Millard and Timmons even finish "Even If" with a chorus of "It is Well."

" I think in religious circles we tend to just live with everything's going to be fine. God is good," Timmons said. " And this film to me feels like it gives permission to say life is really hard and God is good. Not but God is good. It's like the and is such an important thing with grief and gratitude. So for me,  life's still hard. Cancer still is a terrible thing and yet we woke up again today. To hold that in all the seasons is just so important. And what a gift. I think it's where joy is found to be honest in, in all of those things all the time."

Melonee Hurt covers music and music business at The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK — Tennessee. Reach Melonee at [email protected] or on Instagram at @MelHurtWrites.