Local filmmaker's latest feature film to tell the story of Las Cruces hero Canaan Bower

Las Cruces filmmaker Ross Marks recently announced his next project – a faith-based film about Las Cruces’ late hometown hero, Canaan Bower. 

The feature film will depict Bower’s life from growing up in Las Cruces and going above and beyond for others to subduing a would-be kidnapper and his untimely death less than a year after graduating from high school.

Las Cruces filmmaker Ross Marks (“Walking With Herb,” “The Heart Outright”) will direct the film and Mary Haarmeyer is currently writing the screenplay.

Las Cruces hero

Bower found himself in the spotlight in March 2020 when he subdued a man attempting to kidnap two children in a Doña Ana gas station parking lot. The Mayfield High wrestler received national media attention for his good deed and bravery. He was 16 at the time and in his junior year of high school.

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His actions were recognized by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, UFC President Dana White, USA Wrestling as Athlete of the Week, Doña Ana County and the City of Las Cruces.

Bower graduated from Mayfield High in 2021. Ten months later he was killed in a motorcycle-vehicle crash. He was 18.

Since his death, Bower’s parents, friends and community have carried on his memory through a memorial wrestling tournament, a memorial scholarship and by sharing his story as they go through life. 

“We're very excited to be able to continue to tell Canaan's story because his life was so full and it was so amazing. And his life was so much more than what people saw on TV or on social media on the day of the kidnapping,” Troy Bower, Canaan’s father, said. “His life was so much more than that. He lived a very full and very kind and compassionate life.”

‘Canaan’ – the Canaan Bower story

Haarmeyer connected with the Bowers in February, introducing the idea of a film about Canaan. Troy Bower said he and his wife were interested in pursuing the idea. Marks joined the team soon after.

Bower said he is working with Haarmeyer to paint a full picture of his son as she writes the screenplay.

“We're talking about Canaan in the past tense, yet we're also talking about him in the present tense because he's still changing lives. Almost every day we get messages from strangers around the world and how their life is being impacted by him,” Bower said.

Marks said Bower’s story caught his attention at the point of the failed kidnapping. 

“(Canaan’s story) is much more than just one heroic incident, by the way,” Marks Said. “It's quite a powerful story. And even though it has kind of a tragic ending, you know, Canaan does this heroic deed at 16 and then dies at 18, what he leaves behind, his legacy, is so powerful. And this film is part of that legacy,” Marks said.

Marks noted that the film will tell a powerful father-son story, “and kind of a reverse of usually the father raises the son and teaches the son, but in this particular case, Canaan was so remarkable that (Troy) really felt like Canaan raised him as a father and made him a better person.”

He added that the film will be faith-based, similar to “Walking With Herb,” which is a type of film project he has wanted to take part in again. 

Marks said the plan is for the screenplay to be completed around the end of the year or early 2024 and for filming to take place in Las Cruces during the summer of 2024. Local actors and crew will be hired for the project, but Marks said the role of Canaan will involve a wide search. 

“Canaan, I think, represents the very best of what I consider is the greatest community on the planet – Las Cruces. So I think by celebrating Canaan, we’re celebrating our community,” Marks said.

Bower added that he has never taken full credit for raising Canaan. Family, friends, coaches, teachers and neighbors all shaped the kind of person he turned out to be.

“It took our entire community to raise him, so it's absolutely a hats off to our community for being involved in his life,” he said. 

Marks will produce the film through Rio Road Productions, along with Keagan Karnes’ Inspirado and Haarmeyer.

Leah Romero is the trending reporter at the Las Cruces Sun-News and can be reached at 575-418-3442, LRomero@lcsun-news.com or @rromero_leah on X, formerly Twitter.