<\/p>\n
The team behind a new biopic about legendary actor Jimmy Stewart has announced a powerful initiative to provide tickets to the film to one million military veterans and first responders.<\/p>\n
As CBN News previously reported, the \u201cJimmy\u201d film, which hits theaters nationwide Nov. 6, tells the backstory behind the \u201cIt\u2019s a Wonderful Life\u201d star\u2019s real-life military service.<\/p>\n
Listen to the latest\u00a0episode\u00a0of \u201cQuick Start\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe inspiring film will share the untold story of Stewart\u2019s military service in World War II,\u201d a press release reads. \u201cAs a thank you to those who serve and the loved ones who support them, Burns & Co. hopes, through corporate, charitable, and community donations, to provide one million donated tickets through Vet Tix for active duty military members, veterans, first responders, and their families to see \u2018Jimmy\u2019 in theaters.\u201d<\/p>\n The kind effort to give back to veterans and first responders is being funded by Hien Papaian, founder of the\u00a0Papaian Studios, a new media company \u201ccommitted to developing and supporting projects that illuminate faith, inspire hope, and positively influence culture.\u201d<\/p>\n Papaian, who also executive-produced \u201cJimmy,\u201d founded the veteran effort in honor of her husband, Haig Papaian, Jr., who died in 2024. She provided the first 10,000 tickets for the campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cThe moment I finished reading the script for \u2018Jimmy,\u2019 I knew it was a story Papaian Studios had to She continued, \u201cThat belief is the foundation of Papaian Studios and a reflection of my husband\u2019s legacy, whose kindness was truly infectious.\u201d<\/p>\n Hien Papaian, founder of the Papaian Studios, and her late husband, Haig Papaian Jr.<\/em><\/p>\n As previously reported, Stewart is known for an illustrious Hollywood career and for bringing beloved character George Bailey to life in the seminal classic, \u201cIt\u2019s a Wonderful Life.\u201d<\/p>\n Actor KJ Apa will portray Stewart in \u201cJimmy,\u201d which is being produced and directed by Aaron Burns (Burns & Co. Productions).<\/p>\n \u201c[The film] beautifully captures James Stewart\u2019s transformative years in the 1940s,\u201d a press release reads. \u201cFrom Hollywood\u2019s award-winning leading man (and most eligible bachelor) to enlisting in the With that in mind, the movie will offer a powerful lens into Stewart\u2019s personal story of heroism, faith, and navigating Hollywood.<\/p>\n Others cast in the project include \u201cSeinfeld\u201d star Jason Alexander (Louis B. Mayer), \u201cThe Sopranos\u201d actor Max Casella (Frank Capra), \u201cGrey\u2019s Anatomy\u201d alum Sarah Drew (Hedda Hopper), and \u201cDays of Our Lives\u201d performer Jen Lilley (Gloria Stewart).<\/p>\n Burns told CBN News in a 2024 interview about his motivation for bringing the project to fruition.<\/p>\n He said he, like so many other Americans, has long known Stewart as an actor, but his perspective was widened a few years ago when he stumbled upon an article detailing the performer\u2019s back story \u2014 a decision to fight in World War II that took Stewart out of Hollywood and onto the battlefield.<\/p>\n \u201cThe storyteller in me just was so intrigued by this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The filmmaker recapped some of Stewart\u2019s origin story, explaining the actor grew up in a small town and had a faithful father who was a deacon in the Presbyterian church.<\/p>\n \u201c[His dad] just prayed for his son, raised him, invested [in] him,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd, all of a sudden, Jimmy winds up making it as an actor, heading off to Hollywood, and rising through the ranks to become a huge star.\u201d<\/p>\n Stewart, of course, went on to win an Oscar and was nominated four additional times, yet the actor felt somewhat of a \u201chollowness,\u201d Burns said. He simply wasn\u2019t sure if he was a \u201cfake movie star\u201d or a \u201creal hero.\u201d At that time in the early 1940s, the world\u2019s instability was coming to a head, with \u201cwar clouds on the horizon.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s when Stewart made a stunning decision.<\/p>\n \u201c[Stewart] says, \u2018I want to be something more than just a Tinseltown hero. I wanted to serve my country, serve my fellow Americans.’\u201d<\/p>\n Burns said Stewart had been a private pilot, but he decided to enlist in the Army Air Corps, where he became a squadron commander \u2014 a job that involved leading thousands of men in bombing runs during the war.<\/p>\n \u201c[It was] just an incredible story that you\u2019d never imagined for Jimmy Stewart,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n One of the touching stories Burns shared involved a letter Stewart\u2019s father gave him before he shipped off the war \u2014 a note he slipped into his uniform pocket that included a copy of Psalm 91.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about the Lord\u2019s comfort and Lord being with you,\u201d Burns said. \u201cAnd his dad said, \u2018I have confidence and I will be praying for you the whole time you\u2019re away that God will be with you. You\u2019ll make it home safely,\u2019 and [Stewart] kept that with him in his uniform every mission that he went on.\u201d<\/p>\n The actor did make it back home, though he suffered from PTSD after seeing hundreds of his men shot down and killed. By the time Stewart left the battlefield, he was far from the Hollywood leading man he was before fighting on the frontlines.<\/p>\n \u201cHe asked \u2026 himself, \u2018Can I make it back in Hollywood?’\u201d Burns said. \u2018And \u2026 his contract is expired, nobody wants him. So, he had one offer to make a movie and that was \u2018Jimmy\u2019s War,\u2019 where he could be a bomber pilot and bomb Nazis on camera. He\u2019s like, \u2018Sorry, I can\u2019t do that.’\u201d<\/p>\n But Stewart got a call from an old friend named Frank Capra, a Hollywood director who also served in World War II. Capra told Stewart he had the \u201cperfect role\u201d for him.<\/p>\n \u201cCapra\u2026 says, \u2018I\u2019ve got the perfect part for you. Jimmy, I was struggling, too. I was in the war; nobody wants me, but maybe together we could do this project,’\u201d Burns recounted. \u201cIt\u2019s a great story.\u201d<\/p>\n Stewart ended up taking the part of George Bailey \u2014 and the rest is history.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018It\u2019s a Wonderful Life\u2019 became a transformative movie for Jimmy, even as it became a transformative and inspirational movie for all Americans,\u201d Burns said, noting he\u2019s excited to tell the story behind the story.<\/p>\n He continued, \u201cI want my kids to be able to know the hero that Jimmy Stewart was and to see what he went through, the sacrifice he made for us, and to see what the powerful prayers and love of a father for their son \u2014 the impact that that can make, so that\u2019s a story that we\u2019re helping to tell.\u201d<\/p>\n As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up for\u00a0Faithwire\u2019s daily newsletter\u00a0and download the\u00a0CBN News app\u00a0to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The team behind a new biopic about legendary actor Jimmy Stewart has announced a powerful initiative to provide tickets to the film to one million military veterans and first responders. As CBN News previously reported, the \u201cJimmy\u201d film, which hits theaters nationwide Nov. 6, tells the backstory behind the \u201cIt\u2019s a Wonderful Life\u201d star\u2019s real-life<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[3774,1868,1221,974,208,790,6269,6268,5937,1870],"class_list":{"0":"post-19273","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jesus","8":"tag-effort","9":"tag-film","10":"tag-hollywood","11":"tag-impact","12":"tag-million","13":"tag-powerful","14":"tag-responders","15":"tag-studio","16":"tag-unveils","17":"tag-veterans"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
support,\u201d she said in a statement. \u201cBeyond the Hollywood glamour and the trials of war, what resonated most was its message of kindness \u2014 something our world desperately needs right now. \u2018Jimmy\u2019 reminds us to look beyond our own struggles, to embrace the suffering of others, and to choose grace.\u201d<\/p>\n
U.S. Army Air Corps. From World War II commanding officer to love-struck GI. From war hero to a broken man, Jimmy Stewart came home lost. Until It\u2019s A Wonderful Life found him.\u201d<\/p>\n