Can you imagine a Hollywood producer approaching you about the possibility of someone portraying you in a movie?
Poplar Bluff native Scott Brickell was presented with the idea nearly a decade ago for a movie about the life of Bart Millard, front-man for the Christian group MercyMe.
Brickell serves as music manager for the band, who helped MercyMe find its sound and achieve success.
In what he described as "one of the longest conversations he's ever had," Brickell began to doubt the idea would ever become a reality.
"I got excited, but it drug on and I thought it would never happen," he said. "They had to write several different scripts and then the Erwin brothers got involved."
The early scripts of "I Can Only Imagine" did not include Brickell as a part of the movie.
The film focuses on Millard's journey with his father, his wife, MercyMe and the inspiration behind their mega-hit song, I Can Only Imagine.
When the Erwin brothers met Brickell they began talking and realized they had the perfect person to portray him in the movie; Trace Adkins, who the brothers had worked with in a previous movie.
"I thought this was another person from Hollywood making a promise that wasn't going to happen," Brickell said.
The promises began to be fulfilled as scripts appeared and the movie started to take shape.
Brickell said the movie was shot in Oklahoma City and he happened to arrive on set the same day as Adkins.
The two men sat and talked before Adkins' scenes were shot later in the evening and realized they had a lot in common.
Adkins, from Louisiana, played football and worked on an oil rig. Brickell played basketball and tended to cattle while in Poplar Bluff.
"This is going to be easy," Adkins told Brickell of playing his part.
"We are cut from the same cloth," Brickell said about the country music singer portraying him. "We definitely had plenty of similar experiences to swap. We are both sarcastic and rough around the edges."
Since filming ended, Brickell said he and Adkins have kept in touch through text messages and even spent this past Thanksgiving together.
Once again sharing similarities, both men were suffering from knee injuries over the holiday.
"We watched football and ate turkey while icing our knees," Brickell said.
"I Can Only Imagine" was released March 16 and finished opening weekend at number three raking in $17.1 million.
Brickell said he saw the movie nine months ago at a premier in Nashville, Tenn., along with several others following.
The film was initially screened many times before it's public release.
"They knew better than I did," Brickell said of the marketing tactic. "You can't over screen a good movie."
He went on to say if people find a great movie, they want to be the one who tells their family and friends about it and take them.
"Nervous" is how he described feeling when seeing the movie during all the premier screenings.
"It's hard because you have 25 years of someone's life into an hour and 50 minutes," Brickell said. "The first half a dozen times I watched it, it was difficult because multiple different things were crammed into one scene."
Once looking at the film in and of a movie itself and a stand alone piece, Brickell said he realized how well done it was.
"I have heard people say they cried, it has reconnected fathers and sons and many other great comments, so I can't help but be proud of the movie," he said.
AMC Classic Poplar Bluff 8 manager Rebecca Mullen said Brickell's father, Jay, who is also the owner of Brick's Off Road Park, has been in to see the movie.
"He's a proud dad," Mullen said.
Brickell said his father has been his biggest supporter his whole life.
"The movie makes everyone think about their relationships with their family to some degree," Brickell said. "You look at your own life and what you have been through."
He went on to say the movie opens eyes to realizing no one really knows what's going on behind closed doors in someone's life.
"Real life is happening," he said.
According to Mullen, many showed up to see the Poplar Bluff native portrayed in "I Can Only Imagine" with several early showings of the movie sold out.
"Attendance has been really wonderful," she said. "We have had a lot of church groups and the crowds are still coming."
One local church brought in a group of 125 people for the movie, she said.
The movie will continue to run at AMC Classic Poplar Bluff 8 as long as people keep coming out, Mullen said.
According to the theater's website, "I Can Only Imagine" is scheduled to show until at least Wednesday, April 11. Movie times past Wednesday have not been announced as of yet. Show times are usually posted by Wednesday afternoon.
"It seems to be doing good so I don't see it going out anytime soon," Mullen said of the film. "We have heard nothing but good reviews."
The song, I Can Only Imagine, gives a rush of hope, Brickell said, and the producers tried to do the same with the movie.
"When you leave the theater you will have a feeling of hope that no person is outside the forgiving arms of Jesus Christ," Brickell said.
After seeing the movie, he wants people to take away knowing there is still hope for redemption for everyone, no matter where they are in life, what they have done or the circumstances.
The movie making process as a whole has been a long one for Brickell, but one he is glad to have experienced.
"I have learned a lot over eight years about how to make a movie," Brickell said. "The experience has been eye opening, painful and fun."