'Unsung Hero' movie premiere held in Tampa, film tells true story of Smallbone family
TAMPA, Fla. - Lionsgate Entertainment released the movie "Unsung Hero" into theaters nationwide this weekend. It is based on the true story of the Smallbone family as they emigrated from Australia to the United States in the 1990s.
The movie describes the hardships of the culture shock, financial shock and steep mountains that they had to climb to pursue their family dream here in the USA.
If the name Smallbone sounds familiar, it is probably because you've heard their music as the band For King and Country.
In the midst of this movie release, the movie premiere was held right here in Tampa.
"We've been coming to Tampa for a lot of years," explained Luke Smallbone. He wrote and produced the movie.
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"At the end of the day, we want to go where there's a lot of people we connect with and honestly Tampa is probably a top 10 market in America as far as what we've played over the years... We come for the weather. We come for the heat!" he joked.
His brother Joel Smallbone added, "It's very Australian, it's a very Australian climate."
The two brothers who are the For King and Country duo that have Grammy and Billboard Music awards and years of experience in the musical world, tried their luck in the movie space with this project.
"[We] had a bunch of people come up and say, hey Joel and Luke you guys should write a book," recalled Luke. "This film 'Unsung Hero' is actually about our parents. Our dad was a concert promoter in Australia, we were actually born there believe it or not. He got a job offer in Nashville, Tennessee, so he thought it would be a good idea to move his six kids and his wife, who was 6 months pregnant at the time, to just kind of start a new life."
The story hits close to home, because of the deep personal connection the Smallbone brothers have with it.
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"I actually play our dad in the film, which I've dubbed a very expensive therapy session," teased Joel. "We felt as though we were unsafe economically, even sometimes physically unsafe. We felt emotionally really safe inside our family's love, and so, to fast-forward to today, and be able to tell our parents' story, tell our family's story, tell a story about mums and miracles and music, a 90s story about our family migrating from continent to continent is really profound."
Pictured: Luke and Joel Smallbone
That emotion and magic comes through on the big screen.
"If you love your mum, if you love family, if you love movies, if you love the 90s and 90s music, we encourage you to come out," shared Joel. "We believe in the power of family."
The movie "Unsung Hero" is playing locally at AMC Theaters.
For more information, click here. To learn more about the Smallbone brothers and their band For King and Country, click here.
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