Inspirational pop duo For King + Country has already conquered the music industry, becoming one of the most influential forces in contemporary Christian music with six studio albums, massive tours, and an armload of awards, including four Grammys. However, they’re only just getting started in taking their talents to film. Two years ago, they found massive success telling their family’s story in the musical biopic Unsung Hero, which marked Joel David Smallbone‘s directorial debut and earned a solid $21.1 million at the box office on a $6 million budget. Now, they’re returning to theaters in a similarly personal film with a little help from their filmmaker brother, Ben Smallbone.
Premiering this Friday, November 6, Drummer Boy sends the Smallbones back to the beginning of the American Revolution to tell a hopeful story unfolding in the battle for independence. At the center of it all are two brothers, Benjamin (Lucas Leach) and Jeremiah Clem (Joel David Smallbone), on separate sides of the conflict, one believing in their father’s promise of America and the other declaring it a lie and vowing to stand with king and country. Also caught in the crossfire is an enslaved woman, who finds love with Benjamin as they seek freedom from a world that refuses to give it to them. The story was built to tie into the themes of For King + Country’s music, focusing on love, family, forgiveness, and sacrifice, and filled with hopeful, soaring tunes along the way. To set the stage for such a tale, however, tragedy must come first.
Collider can exclusively share a sneak peek at Drummer Boy that teases the pivotal moment that charts a painful course for the Clem family. It takes place on a British vessel, where the children and their mother hide while their father, played by Ioan Gruffudd, commands his men during a French attack. It doesn’t take long for the enemy to start boarding the ship, beginning a frantic battle of swords and gunfire that grows increasingly desperate. Things go from bad to worse when young Ben runs onto the deck of the ship to find his father, sending Jeremiah running to save him before he gets hurt in the skirmish. Disaster soon strikes as the children bear witness to their dad being gunned down and, in the chaos, the ship’s mast collapses and is poised to crush Ben’s leg before the shot cuts away.
- The first film not in the English language to win Best Picture, in the Academy’s
92-year history to that point. - It took four Oscars in one night: Picture, Director, Original Screenplay and International
Feature. - It won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2019 by a unanimous jury vote, the first Korean film
to do so. - The Park family’s modernist house was not a location. It was built from scratch on an
outdoor lot.
- Seven Oscars, including three acting wins for Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee
Curtis. - Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian woman to win Best Actress.
- The visual effects were handled by a team of fewer than ten people, most of them
self-taught. - Ke Huy Quan had all but left acting for two decades before this role brought him back.
- Seven Oscars, including Nolan’s first wins for directing and for Best Picture.
- Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. both took their first Academy Awards for it.
- Kodak engineered a black-and-white 65mm stock that did not previously exist so Nolan could
shoot those sequences on IMAX. - A three-hour, R-rated drama about theoretical physics that passed 950 million dollars
worldwide.
- Four Oscars, among them Best Picture and Best Director for Iñárritu.
- Emmanuel Lubezki’s win here was the middle of three consecutive cinematography Oscars,
after Gravity and before The Revenant. - Antonio Sánchez’s improvised drum score was ruled ineligible for the score category,
which caused a minor uproar. - The long-take illusion was built from a handful of extended shots joined by hidden cuts.
- Four Oscars: Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, and Supporting Actor for Javier Bardem.
- Adapted from Cormac McCarthy’s 2005 novel, with much of his dialogue carried over
intact. - Carter Burwell’s score runs about sixteen minutes and is nearly inaudible by design.
- Roger Deakins was nominated twice that year, for this and The Assassination of Jesse James,
and won for neither.
‘Drummer Boy’ Was Inspired By the Smallbones’ Own Familial Conflict
Filling out the remaining cast of the Smallbones’ Revolutionary War epic are India Brown, Melora Hardin, Beth Easdown, Beverley Knight, Charles Esten, and Iain Glen. Ben and Joel David Smallbone co-directed the feature from a script by Richard L. Ramsey, while Luke Smallbone joined them as producers alongside Chip Diggins, Kristy Choo, and Justin Tolley. Joel and Ben had been developing Drummer Boy for years, but ultimately held off on making it due to a rift in their own relationship. “Joel and I came to a personal and professional conflict to a point where we said, ‘I don’t know if we’ll ever work together again,'” the latter told The Christian Post. “I was quoted as saying very loudly, ‘I don’t want to ever work with Joel Smallbone again,’ and I think he probably would say the same thing on his side.”
However, around a year ago, the two took a lesson from their own story and mended their relationship. “We sat in the coffee shop, and we hugged, and we cried together, and we apologized for words that were said,” Ben continued. “And we decided in that moment that we’re going to endeavor to forgive and reconcile and make this movie together.” In the end, their own experiences became fuel for the story they told and, they believe, made it a much stronger, more real story overall. “What became the 2026 version is deeply, deeply personal because Joel and I literally lived and breathed unity and forgiveness and reconciliation in the process of making this film.”
Drummer Boy arrives in theaters on November 6. Check out our exclusive sneak peek in the player above.
Drummer Boy
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Joel David Smallbone
Jeremiah Clem
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Lucas Leach
Benjamin Clem
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India Brown
Emmaline
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Melora Hardin
Rachel Clem
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