In an effort to make “Meet the Mormons” more accessible to people around the world, the film will be distributed Tuesday, February 3 to TV channels and digital providers. Theaters in all visitors’ centers and historic sites of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began showing the film in January. The documentary-style movie, designed to dispel common misconceptions people have about Mormons, made its national debut in more than 400 theaters across the United States in October.
The expanded release will include television video on demand (VOD) channels and digital video on demand (VOD) providers on February 3, 2015. Over 100 million homes will have access to the film via these channels. DVD and Blu-ray versions of the movie will be available at major retailers across the country on March 31, 2015. The film will also be available worldwide on Netflix later this year.
“We are very pleased by the success that ‘Meet the Mormons’ has enjoyed this year,” said Elder Anthony Perkins of the Seventy, “and are excited that many more people will have an opportunity to experience it in the coming months. These expanded offerings will allow many thousands more to see this wonderful film, either in person at one of our visitors’ centers or in the comfort of their own homes.”
Cable and satellite providers that will air “Meet the Mormons” include Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox, Bright House Networks, Charter, DISH, DirecTV, Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-Verse. The digital providers include iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Google Play, Vudu, Sony PlayStation, Microsoft Xbox, Target Ticket and Best Buy CinemaNow.
“Meet the Mormons” was initially filmed to be shown exclusively in visitors’ centers. The film was originally planned as a replacement for the movie “Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration” that was playing in the Legacy Theater on Temple Square. It shares a message that the Church values people of all faiths and that they don’t have to abandon their culture to become members. It was so successful with test audiences, however, that Church leaders decided to start with a theatrical release for the first time in Church history.
The film attracted capacity audiences and ranked no. 10 nationwide in box office sales when it was released on October 10, 2014. Sold-out showings were reported in major cities from New York City to locations in California.
The movie introduces audiences to six diverse Latter-day Saints and their families who come from different cultures: engineer and humanitarian Bishnu Adhikari, who is originally from Nepal; Ken Niumatalolo, the head football coach of the U.S. Naval Academy; Carolina Muñoz Marin, an amateur kickboxer from Costa Rica who runs a charity with her husband; Jermaine Sullivan, an academic counselor and bishop in Atlanta, Georgia; Utah missionary mom Dawn Armstrong; and Col. Gail Halvorsen (Ret.), the man known as “the Candy Bomber” during the Berlin Airlift in the 1940s.
You can now pre-order Meet the Mormons on DVD here.
