Andy Tennant’s (Hitch) The Secret: Dare to Dream is out today, July 31st and available to watch on demand. The film, starring Katie Holmes (Dawson’s Creek, Batman Begins) and Josh Lucas (A Beautiful Home, Sweet Home Alabama) is an inspiring and heartwarming film that shows how positive thoughts can transform our lives. Here are five not-so-secrets from the set of The Secret: Dare to Dream. 

1. The film is based of Rhonda Byrne’s novel The Secret

Towards the end of 2004, following a string of traumatic events in her personal and professional life, that Rhonda Byrne discovered a great secret — a secret law and principle of the universe. What followed was a two-month odyssey of research and investigation as Rhonda traced ‘the secret’ back through thousands of years, incorporating almost every religion and field of human endeavor throughout history. Byrne released The Secret and its corresponding film in 2006, teaching and inspiring readers how to apply this powerful knowledge to their lives in every area from health to wealth, to success and relationships.

2. There were several practitioners of ‘the secret’ prior to filming the movie

Josh Lucas, the films leading man found out about the project through a friend who practiced ‘the secret’, she encouraged Lucas to get in contact with Tennant and as they say, the rest was history.

Jerry O’Connell who plays Tucker in the film said he actually got the role by applying ‘the secret’. “When I first heard that they were doing ‘a Secret’ movie, I was like, I read that book! I practice those principles!”

Aidan Pierce Brennan, son to Holmes’s character, Miranda said once he told his family their response was, “’You’re going for The Secret?!’ And I told my friends, and they’re all like, ‘Oh, my mom loves that book. My dad loves that book. Yeah, my brother read that book last year.’ Everyone knows someone who has read The Secret.”

3. The film has been six years in the making

According to producer Robert Cort, the film took half a dozen years before all the right elements came together. “I metRhonda Byrne about six years ago when she wanted very much to do a movie based on her book and DVD The Secret. So I said, ‘Rhonda, let’s by all means do a movie. Let’s make it a piece of entertainment in a classic sense.’” Cort said.

I’d always say to Robert, everything always happens perfectly, and everything happens for the right reason,” Byrne continues. “Andy Tennant came to us at the perfect time. His essence and his inspiration, his input into the screenplay — it just doesn’t get any better than that.

Rhonda Byrne, author of The Secret

4. The film was shot on location in Louisiana, specifically on the North Shore 

Producer Robert Katz didn’t want to limit the film’s depiction of Louisiana to the typical or touristy spots of Louisiana like the French Quarter.

Working-class families are so underrepresented in film and on television,” says producer Cort. “When we decided to come to Louisiana to film, we decided, we’d be on the North Shore. 

Robert Katz, producer on The Secret: Dare to Dream

5. Rhonda Byrne was on set during filming

Rhonda Byrne who wrote the novel the film is based from is also a producer on the film and was present on set during filming. She mentioned that as soon as she read the script she trusted and believed in Tennant’s vision. In May 2007, Byrne was named one of the world’s most influential people in TIME magazine’s “The TIME 100: The People Who Shape Our World.”

I think The Secret team always knew there would be a movie, at some point, beyond the documentary. We just didn’t know yet what shape that film would take.

Rhonda Byrne, author of The Secret

Based on the groundbreaking best-selling book about the law of attraction by Rhonda Byrne, The Secret: Dare to Dream follows Miranda (Katie Holmes), a young widow trying to make ends meet while raising her three children and dating her boyfriend (Jerry O’Connell). A devastating storm brings an enormous challenge and a mysterious man, Bray (Josh Lucas), into Miranda’s life. Bray reignites the family’s spirit but, unbeknownst to Miranda, also holds an important secret — one that will change everything.

The Secret: Dare to Dream Official Trailer

Director: Andy Tennant | Cast: Katie Holmes, Josh Lucas and Jerry O’Connell, Celia Weston, Sarah Hoffmeister, Aidan Pierce Brennan, Chloe Lee, Katrina Begin | Writers/ Adaption/Script: Bekah Brunstetter, Andy Tennant, Rick Parks | Executive Producer: Elissa Friedman, Christopher H. Warner