So this is a spinoff or sidequel to the new film series?
Just by a different company?
shareWell, Randy LaHaye has stated in interviews that the 2014 movie was the start of the brand new movie franchise so technically Vanished will be a spinoff and I did come across one article that called it a sequel but it looks to me like it will really be an entirely separate movie from Left Behind (2014), continuity-wise.
What makes me think this is that the 2014 movie took place in New York City. From what I have heard, Vanished will take place in Chicago. Also, both movies have a different Bruce Barnes, Lance E. Nichols in the 2014 movie and William Gabriel Greer in Vanished.
So, considering that the same character will be in two separate cities played by different actors makes me think that Stoney Lake Entertainment's Left Behind series and EchoLight Studios' Left Behind - Next Generation series will be two independent versions of the same franchise.