Hollywood Insiders Express Shock as Christian Film Opens Second at the Box Office

Aletelia ^ | September 1, 2015 | KIRSTEN ANDERSEN

[NYer]

The new Christian film War Room raked in $11 million during its debut last weekend, coming in second place at the box office just behind hit movie-of-the-moment Straight Outta Compton, which pulled in only $13 million in its third weekend on U.S. screens. 
 
War Room – which had a limited release of just over 1,000 screens nationwide, almost no advertising, and was produced for just over $3 million – easily beat out Zac Efron’s dance club drama We Are Your Friends and No Escape, a political thriller featuring Owen Wilson, both of which enjoyed wide releases and plenty of mainstream promotion.  In fact, War Room made the most money per screen of any film on offer last weekend, averaging nearly $10,000 per screen, while Owen’s and Efron’s films earned only $3,335 per screen and $635 per screen, respectively ... a record-breakingly poor performance, in Efron’s case.
 
Hollywood insiders reacted with surprise to War Room’s strong debut, but a critic for Forbes magazine says the industry should have known all along that it was a guaranteed hit, and that all producers and critics have to do is take off their anti-religious blinders in order to repeat the success of War Room, over and over again.
 
“Pretty much every box office report posted yesterday has some variation on thenotion that War Room‘s strong performance was something of a surprise,” wrote Scott Mendelson in his piece for Forbes Monday. “In truth, the only surprise about the strong $11 million debut weekend of Alex Kendrick’s War Room is that anyone was shocked in the first place.”
 
War Room, the latest offering from Christian sibling duo Alex and Stephen Kendrick, focuses on a successful upper-middle class black couple whose lucrative jobs let them build an attractive public façade to cover up worsening problems in their relationship and spiritual lives. As the pair edge toward the brink of divorce and possible professional implosion, the wife meets a charismatic, prayerful older woman who convinces her that all the couple’s woes are nothing less than attacks by Satan himself.  Spurred on by the old woman’s encouragement, the wife transforms a closet in her spacious McMansion into a “war room” – a room dedicated to prayer (which the film’s tagline reminds us is “a powerful weapon”).  Sure enough, when the spiritual source of the ugliness in the couple’s lives is unearthed and attacked with prayer, things miraculously begin to change for the better.
 
War Room’s first-weekend haul was more than triple the cost of the film’s production, making it an instant moneymaker for parent company Sony Pictures.  But even Sony execs acted surprised by the film’s success, with Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony, telling Fox News, “We knew that we were going to get a lot of love, we just didn't expect quite this much love.”
 
Meanwhile, the critics acted nothing less than shocked. 
 
“Christian drama War Room is doing far better than expected in its North American box office debut, all but tying with champ Straight Outta Compton,” the Hollywood Reporter reported breathlessly on Friday, as the weekend’s earliest numbers began rolling in.
 
 “Th[is weekend’s] big surprise ... was the over-performing faith-based drama War Room,” echoed a critic for Movieweb on Monday.
 
Variety admitted that the movie’s success “upended the expectations of box office prognosticators.”
 
But according to Mendelson, the Kendrick brothers’ established track record of nearly a half-dozen other solidly profitable films – all made on shoestring budgets for Christian audiences – should have tipped industry insiders off that

War Room was likely to be another underdog hit.  What’s more, he says the industry’s refusal to pull their heads out of the sand when it comes to audiences that don’t fit the Hollywood ideal is going to cost them money in the long run, by depriving vast segments of would-be viewers of the kind of entertainment they want to purchase.
 
“Yeah sure, the whole ‘surprise’ narrative makes for good copy and easy headlines, but it’s harmful in the long run by continuing the myth that says that films not aimed at one specific demographic shouldn’t be expected to make money and/or shouldn’t be considered a wise investment,” Mendelson wrote.  “The idea that a film like Zac Efron’s We Are Your Friends is the kind of film that is supposed to make money while a film like War Room is not guarantees that more We Are Your Friends get produced regardless of the financial realities.”
 
“Those pretending to be surprised for the sake of easy analysis are doing the industry a disservice,” Mendelson added. “Those actually surprised need to once again take a look at their presumptions. Because once again, the notion of what kind of movies make money in Hollywood is still a stronger motivational factor than what kinds of movies actually make money in Hollywood.”

[NYer]

Ping!

[TBP]

There is a big market for this kind of movie, and they didn’t use the odd “limited distribution” plan that other such films have used.

[stars & stripes forever]

Excellent movie that ALL should see. Bring a Kleenex as well as your saved and unsaved friends. This movie is well produced.

[stephenjohnbanker]

Surprised my derriere....almost all Christian-based movies and TV shows have made a LOT of money, and they know it.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

People are just tired of the same old crap that comes out of Hollywood. Even the “family” movies that Hollywood makes are filled with PC garbage.

I have to say that some of these Christian films are poorly acted and scripted. That hurts them. But if they could step up their game just a little, there would be a lot more that make a lot of money and compete in the big leagues.

[SevenofNine]

Yeah came in second behind Straight out of Compton

[Dilbert San Diego]

Isn’t it true that one of the biggest grossing movies of all time was The Passion of the Christ??? There is a huge untapped market for films which would appeal to people of faith and/or the “silent majority” who don’t want to see movies full of sexual innuendo/immorality or liberal values.

There is a huge untapped market for movies which tell a compelling story, as opposed to those with a superficial plot but hours of dazzling computer graphic special effects.

[Dante3]

I agree.

[Awgie]

“There is a big market for this kind of movie.”

Just like there is a big market for this message in all areas of secular life, particularly politics.

[mrsmel]

My only concern is that is Hollywood ever decided to be honest with itself about this and start making more Christian-oriented movies, they would do the same thing that the left has done to mainline denominations-infiltrate leftist “Christian” propaganda, such as sodomite “Christians”, into the films.

[zeugma]

If box office results were what really mattered to hollywood, the vast majority of films would be G or PG rated.

[LRoggy]

Even as a Jew I really like their movies. The one about the high school football team was awesome. Particularly the scenes where the star player carries a teammate on his back all the way down the field and when the coach is secretly gifted the truck.

[verga]

At some point I hope that Hollywood comes to realize that customers want good solid wholesome family thought provoking entertainment and not the mindless amusement they have been able to pawn off on us.

[Another Post-American]

It seems to me that there may be some providential timing here, in a movie like War Room coming out literally on the heels of the Ashley Madison scandal.

Behind a few news stories, I think there may be a real crisis in America quietly unfolding. My gut feeling is that literally millions of households right now are hurting as spouses, parents, children, etc. are discovering terribly uncomfortable truths from the Ashley Madison database dump.

I hadn’t heard of War Room and haven’t seen it, but from the descriptions it sounds like it might be incredibly on-target in reaching out to hurting people dealing with the fallout from Ashley Madison. Let’s pray this is so.

[longtermmemmory]

“Save the Cat”

[AppyPappy]

Our local Baptist church subsidized ticket prices at the theater.

[verga]

There is a huge untapped market for movies which tell a compelling story, as opposed to those with a superficial plot but hours of dazzling computer graphic special effects.

I ;live near a reproduction of Shakespeare's Blackfriar's play house. My wife and I usher there on a regular basis. They have plays from the Bard, Middleton, Marlow, etc.... The place is packed, They even bring in School Matinees. The sets are minimalistic, but the acting is amazing.

Peole want to see quality and are willing to pay for it.

[JoeFromSidney]

Haven't seen the movie. It probably won't be shown at my local theater. I'll have to wait for the DVD, just like I did with THE PASSION OF CHRIST.

[PATRIOT1876]

Hollywood doesn't seem as concerned about making a profit as long as they can spread their sewage and promote Atheism, hatred of America, and looney Climate Change “science”