Christian Film Facing the Giants Opens, Scores Big at the Box Office
by Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
October 3, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A movie made on a shoestring budget by a Georgia church ranked 12th at the box office in gross revenues this past weekend. Facing the Giants, a PG-rated film about faith, family, and football, grossed roughly $1.39 million across its debut weekend when it opened on 441 screens across the U.S.Facing the Giants, released by Destination Films and Samuel Goldwyn Films, tells the story of a beleaguered, can't-seem-to-win-for-losing high school football coach who finds -- and helps his team find -- inspiration from God to fight the giants of fear and defeat. And if its first weekend's receipts are any indication, this stirring football drama is going to have a long, winning season at the box office.
Read AgapePress review of the movie
The congregation of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia, financed Facing the Giants, collectively giving $100,000 for the making of the film, which features an all-volunteer cast. Associate pastor Alex Kendrick, Sherwood Baptist's director of media ministry, not only co-wrote and directed the film, but also stars in the lead role.
Kendrick believes Hollywood is going to take notice of Giants' strong opening weekend. He believes the movie's box office success will send film industry officials the message "that this is the type of entertainment and the type of faith and morals and values that [moviegoers] want to support."
And if that message is received, Kendrick contends, it will allow Sherwood Baptist Church to make more movies in the same vein as Facing the Giants and its earlier feature film (released on DVD), Flywheel. And the same time, he says, this pro-family theatrical film's audience appeal will "encourage the production of more movies like it from others."
The breakout Christian filmmaker says a big opening weekend makes a huge difference to entertainment executives and can help determine what kind of future it has both in theaters and in video rental stores. "When people go and support a movie opening weekend, it kind of gives the producers and the releasing studio an idea of what they like," he says, "and the first two weekends give them an indication of how well a movie's going to do."
Based upon those numbers, Kendrick explains, film industry executives determine how widely to release a film, and how long to keep it in theaters. And a movie's box office performance in its initial weeks can also help film companies decide how far to spread DVD distribution "and even ... how many to make," he says.
Facing the Giants seems to be off to an auspicious start after its promising premiere. Using a per-screen average, only three films in the top ten last weekend had a higher average; and four Hollywood films that played on more than 1,000 screens -- including one that played on more than 2,000 screens -- earned less overall than Kendrick's film.
Boxofficeguru.com, a site that monitors movie openings, took note of the Christian movie, acknowledging its "respectable debut in moderate national release." The website pointed out that, with its estimated $1.4 million gross from only 441 theaters, Facing the Giants came out with a nice $3,150 average; and the film is expected to pick up more theaters in the coming weeks.
