Left Behind is a 2014 American Christian apocalyptic thriller film directed by Vic Armstrong and written by Paul LaLonde and John Patus.

[5] Based on the 1995 novel of the same name written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, the film stars Nicolas Cage, Chad Michael Murray, Cassi Thomson, Nicky Whelan, Jordin Sparks, and Lea Thompson.

The second film adaptation of the first Left Behind novel but not following the book's chronology, it depicts the Christian Rapture as a worldwide disaster, which is shown from the perspective of one family, a husband (airline pilot Rayford Steele) and wife facing marital difficulties, and their two children.

Chloe suspects things are not fine between her parents – she had seen him flirting with flight attendant Hattie Durham and notices he has removed his wedding ring.

Her suspicions are soon confirmed when an airport worker hands Chloe a pair of tickets for a concert in London that Rayford had ordered, proving that he'd planned the trip in advance.

He has difficulty getting radio or satellite phone contact with anyone on the ground, until he is finally informed that people have disappeared everywhere and the world is in uproar.

Soon a pilot-less jet approaches directly into their flight path, resulting in a midair collision, that damages Rayford's fuel line.

Chloe makes her way to her mother's church, where family pastor Bruce Barnes explains that God has taken his believers to heaven and the rest have to face the end of days.

Chloe finds an abandoned truck and uses it to clear away the equipment from a road under construction in order to create a makeshift runway.

[6] On August 7, 2008, Cloud Ten Pictures entered into a settlement agreement resolving the two lawsuits against it and Namesake Entertainment, which co-produced the original trilogy.

[12] By October 31, 2011, Paul LaLonde and John Patus, who worked on World at War together, had written a screenplay for the reboot.

[13] By October 19, 2012, stunt artist Vic Armstrong was set to direct the reboot film with the budget around $15 million.

[14] In December 2012, Chad Michael Murray was in talks to join the cast, to play the role of journalist Cameron "Buck" Williams.

[8][15] On January 3, 2013, Ashley Tisdale joined to play the role of Chloe Steele in the film,[16][17] but later dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.

[19] In August 2013 Jordin Sparks[18] and Cassi Thomson joined the lead cast, the latter replacing Tisdale as Chloe Steele.

[9] On August 19, 2013, Olympic bobsledder and hurdler Lolo Jones joined the cast, portraying an airport gate attendant.

The final two weekends of the film's US theatrical release, however, posted a robust 265% increase before ending its run on December 11, 2014.

The website's critics consensus reads, "Yea verily, like unto a plague of locusts, Left Behind hath begat a further scourge of devastation upon Nicolas Cage's once-proud filmography.

Audiences, Christian or not, deserve better, and it's hard to imagine that the ham-fisted revelations in this schlock could serve any higher purpose.

So, what possessed the makers of Left Behind to produce such an ignorant piece of garbage that's easily one of the worst films of 2014, if not all-time?

In fact, most Christians within the world of the movie—whether the street-preacher lady at the airport or Rayford Steele's wife—are portrayed as insistent, crazy, delusional, or at the very least just really annoying.

They want churches to book whole theaters and take their congregations, want it to be a Youth Group event, want magazines like this one to publish Discussion Questions at the end of their reviews—want the system to churn away, all the while netting them cash, without ever having to have cared a shred about actual Christian belief.

[36] After watching an early screening of the film, LaHaye said, "It is the best movie I have ever seen on the rapture", while Jenkins said, "I believe it does justice to the novel and will renew interest in the entire series.

[40] In November 2021, LaLonde announced the beginning of production on Left Behind: Rise of the Antichrist, with Kevin Sorbo directing and replacing Nicolas Cage as Rayford Steele along with other roles being recast entirely.