Dennis Quaid Plays a Real Man Who Suddenly Becomes an Emergency Pilot in On a Wing and a Prayer : Trailer
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Dennis Quaid and Heather Graham are surviving On a Wing and a Prayer.
PEOPLE has an exclusive first look at the trailer for the upcoming Prime Video film, inspired by "the miraculous true story" of Doug White and his family.
Doug was forced to take over the controls of their private plane as he and his wife and two daughters traveled home from Florida to Louisiana in 2009 after their pilot, Joe Cabuk, had a fatal heart attack.
"Despite having no experience flying the twin-engine Beechcraft Super King Air 200, Doug (Quaid, 68) has to take control of the aircraft and try to guide it to a nearby landing strip," an official film synopsis reads. "With time running out, an aspiring air-traffic controller breaks protocol and contacts experienced pilot Kari (Jesse Metcalfe)."
"From his home in Connecticut, Kari manages to contact Doug directly and provide step-by-step advice as Doug struggles to save his family from seemingly certain tragedy. If anyone is to survive, it's going to take a miracle," the synopsis concludes.
Metcalfe, 44, tells PEOPLE that the film is "a really uplifting story of survival," and that he was drawn to the film in part because his character, the real-life Kari Sorenson, is from Connecticut, just like him.
"He doesn't take him himself too seriously," the actor adds. "He [doesn't consider] himself a hero, but he was certainly in the right place at the right time, with the right knowledge of the aircraft that Doug White had to land in order to save his family. So I just thought it was an intriguing character, and I always like the opportunity to be part of a true story."
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Courtesy of Prime Video Jesse Metcalfe in On a Wing and a Prayer (2023)
Graham, who plays Doug's wife Terri, says of the "terrifying" true story that inspired the film, "It's kind of everyone's worst nightmare: that you're on a plane and then the pilot dies and you just don't know how to get down."
She adds that she was attracted to the film in part because "sometimes when really scary things happen in life, you just have to have faith."
"And even though it doesn't seem logically possible that things will work out and sometimes they still do. So I like the aspect that there's some kind of beautiful energy out there protecting us," says Graham, 53.
She also spoke to the real-life Terri while doing research for the movie. "She's really sweet and she saw the movie and she was super happy," Graham says. "And I've never met her in person, but we did a few FaceTime calls and it was just fun seeing her and trying to capture the essence of her spirit."
Having worked with Quaid before in 2013's At Any Price, Graham tells PEOPLE she was "so flattered, because he requested to work with" her for this film, as well.
"I was honored because I've been watching his work my whole life and I'm a big fan and I was really excited to work with him," she says, noting that Quaid is also a pilot in real life.
Courtesy of Prime Video/Boris Martin Dennis Quaid and Heather Graham in On a Wing and a Prayer (2023)
On the flip side, Metcalfe tells PEOPLE he "never even met" Quaid or Graham while shooting On a Wing and a Prayer, considering all their communication is via phone call.
But he did form "a really quick bond" and had "instant chemistry" with Anna Enger Ritch, who plays Kari's love interest Ashley in the film.
Ritch she was "super supportive" about "running lines together," which was a huge help since Metcalfe wasn't the most comfortable with the "technical jargon" his character is an expert in.
"It's a really compelling movie," Metcalfe raves. "It's entertaining for a movie based on a singular event like this, that you might think, 'Oh, how are you going to make an entire feature film about this one event?' "
"It's a nail-biter. It keeps you on the edge of your seat," he promises.
Prime Video Poster for On a Wing and a Prayer (2023)
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For Graham, given the stress and sadness of recent events like the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing war in Ukraine, an uplifting story like the one in On a Wing and a Prayer comes at a poignant time.
"You just want to really believe everything's going to be okay," she says. "And I feel like after I watched the movie, you just feel good. It can be a sense of faith in humanity. ... It's kind of like people helping each other and everyone's sort of looking out for each other."
"So beyond just the idea of a bigger faith-based element of just believing in God or a higher power, it's also just about the goodness of people wanting to help each other," Graham adds of the film.
Directed by Sean McNamara, On a Wing and a Prayer is written by Brian Egeston and produced by Roma Downey, Autumn Bailey-Ford and Karl Horstmann.
On a Wing and a Prayer flies onto Prime Video April 7.
