Posted on 04/11/2014 3:51:54 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Preaching to the choir may not impress movie critics, but it seems to work at the box office, if the success of the micro-budget Christian movie "God's Not Dead" is any indication.
The indie film about a college student who debates his atheist professor about the existence of God has grossed about $35 million in ticket sales so far, making it one of the biggest surprises of the year, with little sign of stopping as it enters its fourth weekend in theaters.
In a landscape dominated by dystopian teen sci-fi and Marvel superheroes, that may not seem like a lot of money, but in terms of religious films, it's big -- especially considering "God's Not Dead" cost less than $3 million to make.
It has already grossed more than fellow low-budget religious dramas such as 2008's "Fireproof" and 2011's "Courageous."
According to filmmaker David A.R. White, co-founder of
Pure Flix Entertainment, the company behind "God's Not Dead," it could even end up doing better than Mark Burnett's New Testament retelling "Son of God," which has essentially completed its domestic run with about $59 million in domestic ticket sales.
That's if the movie can keep up its momentum.
It will run in 2,100-plus theaters this weekend, up from 1,758 a week ago, when it brought in $7.8 million and landed at No. 4 in the U.S. and Canada. Helped by a boosted screen-count, its weekend take fell a mere 12% week-to-week. It opened last month in just 780 locations, but managed to gross an impressive $9.2 million for a fourth-place finish.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Sorbo’s a nice guy too, no “I’m a star” attitude.
Anybody seen this? I like GOOD, well-done movies. Often hard to find “Christian” movies that connect with the emotional authenticity audiences look for. Too often, the characters are a bit wooden and stiff, or just not “real.”
I plan to see the movie this weekend. Saw the trailer and it looks good.
Saw it last weekend and thought it was pretty good. I wish they had focused more on the college student and professor, maybe left out one or two of the other story lines, but overall well done.
The men in my church small group saw it last Friday night while the gals headed off to a cabin in Payson, AZ for the weekend. The movie was very well done. I know what you mean by “wooden” and I think this one passes muster.
The only problem I have is with the people in the audience going into “Amen corner” mode, albeit in appropriate places. Its just that it make the tone possibly less than suitable for a non-believer.
I was reminded of a Ron Glass line from Firefly. He plays a “preacher” shepherd and councils the captain, Nathan Fillian, that if he takes advantage of that young girl: “You will go to the deepest Hell! The Hell reserved for those who take advantage of young girls . . . or talk in theaters!”
Saw it last Sunday. It is good.
I have seen the movie twice.
Worth it.
I saw it a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it. I would recommend it to anyone, but especially Christians, not just because a Christian made it but because the story was good.
A truly great line.
Book: [to Mal] If you take sexual advantage of her, you’re going to burn in a very special level of hell. A level they reserve for child molesters and people who talk at the theater.
Yes, Hercules Sorbo is good. It will be interesting to see him in this dramatic role. It's a totally contradictory role to everything he personally believes. I wonder what his take on it is.
An interesting side note, to me at least, is that these GOD and JESUS movies (Noah excepted--arf arf) tend to bring forth converts.
It would be interesting to know how long those conversions last. A long time, I hope.
I wonder if he's kept up his Herculean body.
Saw it a couple of weeks ago. Much better than I had feared. The low budget didn’t really show.
Could have been much better, IMO, if they’d made a few minor tweaks to the script.
I saw it...it was very entertaining without being too preachy, and, to top it off, it did not offend the intellect or your sense of decency.
I would see it again.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.