Released directly to video in 2000, copies of the film came bundled with a free pass to watch the film in theaters when it was later given limited release in early 2001.
According to the "Making of..." documentary, Chelsea Noble (Hattie), who is married to Kirk Cameron (Buck), was reading the book in bed. Cameron was asleep, but Noble was so excited about the idea of turning this into a movie, she started slapping Cameron on the leg to wake him up, and said, "I want to play the role of Hattie!" Cameron and Noble then started farming out the idea to find out who might produce the film.
Most of the cast were volunteers from local churches.
Author Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins originally sold the rights to producer Ralph Winter after he pitched a big-budget, mainstream blockbuster adaptation that would remain faithful to the source material. Winter hired writer Alan B. McElroy to produce a script treatment for such an adaptation, but was ultimately unable to generate enough interest from potential financiers or distributors. Winter sold off the rights to independent production company Cloud Ten Pictures, who had previously produced similarly-themed films, thereby ending his and McElroy's involvement in the project. However, both were still credited in the finished film, possibly to generate publicity and add legitimacy to the film.
Some the passengers on the opening flight scenes who appear (and disappear) are John Hagee (in a Hawaiian shirt), Jack and Rexella Van Impe, popular dispensationalist televangelists.