Dennis Quaid Boards MGM & Lightworkers' on A Wing and a Prayer
Dennis Quaid (I Can Only Imagine) will star in MGM and LightWorkers’ faith-based family drama feature film, On a Wing and a Prayer from director Sean McNamara (Soul Surfer). Written by Brian Egeston (Perfect Harmony), On a Wing and a Prayer is produced by Roma Downey and Autumn Bailey-Ford. Mark Burnett will executive produce the project.
After a small-town pilot dies unexpectedly while flying the plane, passenger Doug White (Quaid) is forced to land the plane safely in order to save his entire family. Based on an astonishing true story of faith and survival, On a Wing and a Prayer follows one man’s harrowing journey to save his family from insurmountable danger.
On a Wing and a Prayer is a gripping take on a very real survivor story and illuminates the remarkable power of the human spirit,” said MGM Motion Picture Group Chairman Michael De Luca and President Pamela Abdy. “Doug White is the definition of a hero. We are thrilled to partner with Mark, Roma and Autumn, and couldn’t have asked for a better star in Dennis to bring this unbelievable true story to life.”
“This gripping story has so many layers, I couldn’t put the script down,” said Downey. “At the heart of this true story is a man thrown into every passenger’s worst nightmare as he sees his pilot die mid-air at the controls. What happens next will have you on the edge of your seat, and with Dennis Quaid in the lead role you won’t be able to take your eyes off the screen.”
Multi-hyphenate superstar Dennis Quaid is an Emmy® Award and two-time Golden Globe® nominee, who's known for his roles in hit films The Rookie, The Day After Tomorrow, Traffic, Vantage Point, Frequency, The Parent Trap, Soul Surfer, The Right Stuff, Breaking Away and many more. His latest big-screen credits include The Intruder, A Dog’s Journey, A Dog’s Purpose and I Can Only Imagine, among others. On the TV side, Quaid starred in and executive produced Netflix’s holiday-themed multi-camera comedy series Merry Happy Whatever, and starred in the third season of Amazon’s Goliath. Quaid is currently in production portraying the 40th president of the United States in the biopic Reagan. His other upcoming projects include American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story, The Tiger Rising and The Charley Pride Story. Quaid is represented by Brillstein Entertainment Partners, UTA, Adkins Publicity and Hansen Jacobsen.
Roma Downey and Mark Burnett have produced numerous television series and films under MGM’s LightWorkers division, including The Bible miniseries, which made a ground-breaking impact when it premiered on History in 2013, drawing in more than 100 million viewers over its 10-week run and garnering three Primetime Emmy Award® nominations. The series spawned a feature film adaptation with Son of God, which became one of the highest faith movie openings of all time when it debuted at the box office in 2014, as well as a successful sequel miniseries, A.D. The Bible Continues, which premiered on NBC the following year. Additionally, Burnett and Downey have produced the recently released reality hit series Country-ish for Netflix, Messiah for Netflix, The Women of the Bible for Lifetime, The Dovekeepers for CBS, and Answered Prayers for TLC. They were also executive producers on the feature films Little Boy for Open Road Films, Woodlawn for PureFlix, Ben-Hur for MGM and Paramount and the documentary Faithkeepers about the persecution of Christians and other minorities in the Middle-East.
Sean McNamara is a director, writer and producer of family dramas including the breakout hit feature Soul Surfer. He is currently wrapping up production on the film Reagan, a drama based on the life of Ronald Reagan starring Dennis Quaid, and his next project The Kings Daughter, starring Pierce Brosnan and Kaya Scodelario will debut in theaters in 2022. His additional credits include The Miracle Season, Spare Parts, Orphan Horse, Raise Your Voice and Race to Space among others. He is represented by APA.
Brian Egeston is a writer/ co- executive producer for Tyler Perry's House of Payne (BET). Brian was an executive story editor on BET's series The Quad and a co-producer on NBC's Perfect Harmony. He has published six novels and has been nominated for the prestigious PEN/Faulkner Award. He is represented by The Rookery, The Gersh Agency and GGSSC.
Autumn Bailey-Ford is the founder of Autumn Bailey Entertainment (ABE) and co-founder of Prominent Productions. In 2018, she produced the award-winning documentary Maynard about the civil rights icon Maynard Jackson. Her additional film credits include Tulsa, Trading Paint, Mine 9 and Devil’s Doors, among others. She is represented by Ziffren Brittenham.
On a Wing and a Prayer will be released theatrically in the U.S. via MGM’s distribution and marketing joint venture United Artists Releasing.