Posted on 10/10/2006 3:24:23 PM PDT by GretchenM
"We didn't make this movie to make money. We want people to walk out of the theater and desire a closer walk with God."
Three years ago, the folks at Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia, believed God wanted them to make a movie. Now, says a report in the Washington Post, the low budget film funded by church donations, Facing the Giants, is playing at more than 400 theaters around the country. According to the report, the movie -- whose female lead is a homemaker and male lead is an associate pastor, both with no acting experience-- has made $2.7 million in 10 days, and ticket sales were good enough last weekend to place it 13th in the box office rankings.
Homespun innovation was their hallmark, notes reporter Peter Whoriskey, adding that the filmmakers could afford only one camera. "Every one of us felt overwhelmed in every role," says Stephen Kendrick, the co-writer.
"This guy and this guy and this guy told us, 'You can't do it -- the movie business just doesn't work this way," recalls Alex Kendrick, an associate pastor at the church who wrote the movie with his brother and starred in it. "But we asked God to bless it and look with favor on it, and He did."
Once the film was done, said Whoriskey, "some distributors were uncomfortable with so many references to Jesus, but the church wanted a theatrical release and, eventually, Provident Films, which is owned by Sony, bought in, as did Samuel Goldwyn Films, which handled the distribution."
Despite the predictable savaging by secular critics, the report said "appreciative and tearful crowds...repeated over and over that the script seemed so faithful to their view of the world."
"Hollywood movies are fake," said Melissa Goodwin, 42, a sales rep. "Just a lot of cussing. That was a real movie about real life."
The theme of the film -- that God answers prayers -- is based on what the Kendrick brothers claim has really happened in their area. "We didn't make this movie to make money," Alex Kendrick said. "We want people to walk out of the theater and desire a closer walk with God."
Brandon Gray, the president and publisher of Box Office Mojo, in a statement that reflects the magnitude of the film's success, noted that it is rare for an independently made, non-studio movie to open at more than 100 theaters -- while Giants opened on 441 screens.
One Night with the King, about Queen Esther, her cousin, Mordecai, and the salvation of the Jewish people; theater release is scheduled for October 13, 2006
The Nativity Story, to be in theaters at Christmas time this year
fyi ping
We have been waiting for this movie and have not found playing near our home. Can't wait to see it with the entire family.
Cool.
Try this site and type in your area and preferences.
http://www.imdb.com/showtimes/location/chicago,il/15m
bttt
Critics pan anything and everything that isn't perverse.
To be in step with Hollywood is to be out of step with morality.
I hadn't heard about it till today. Looks interesting, and judging by the way it was picked up and distributed, it looks like it's got a punch.
Some studios have realized box office numbers with these types of films are proving to be much better numbers than the other hollyweirdos' films.
Fox it getting it: http://www.foxfaith.com
I expect this might do *very* well when released in DVD.
Movies like that I'd pay to see. Most, I won't and don't.
Bravo! and thanks for the ping.
I reported on this film Michael Catt: 'Facing the Giants' of Hollywood [RATED PG FOR THE USE OF JESUS]
I put it in News and the mods must have moved it.
You've got to be kidding....if this isn't news...what is?
Thank you for doing that. I hope the mod will move it back to News. I agree, it's NOT chat. It's as much a part of Culture / Society as other news that stays in News.
Thank you. It worked well. The movie is 30 miles away and I may be forced to travel that far since I live in a rural area. So be it.
I have been reading about it for a few weeks now and just waiting for a movie I can take my family to--this is it. Going to a movie is a rare event for my family--typically once a year because of the trash marketers. WE have never had cable TV either for the same reason.
I keep that site in my Links bar with my preferences stored on it so I can quickly see what's playing, where, when, etc.
I will keep this on the list. We have quite a collection of Christian movies, but few can match my Easter favorite, "The Robe."
"David Mamet [does a] movie adaption of Terrance Rattigan's ever popular British play, based on a true story, creates an English world of 1910 on the eve of WWI, women's sufferage and the rest of the modern age. With dramatic, precisely crafted dialogue he raises such questions as: the standing of the least before the highest, justice vs. moral truth, the costs of the pursuit of truth and the difficulty seperating truth from lies. Featuring Jeremy Northam (Emma, The Net), Nigel Hawthorne (Madness of King George), Rebecca Pigeon (Spanish Prisoner, and also David Mamet's wife), her brother Matthew Pigeon, Gemma Jones (Sense & Sensibility), Colin Stinton, and thirteen year old Guy Edwards as Ronnie Winslow, the accused. They all do fine job, but particularly outstanding are Northam as Sir Robert Morton, Hawthorne as the father Arthur Winslow, Jones as Grace Winslow and Edwards."
Rating: G
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