Another Faith Film Shocks Hollywood with Box Office - War Room Opens in Second Place

The faith-based drama War Room delivered a terrific opening in second place despite playing in only 1,135 locations as the Sony release grossed an estimated $11M. The PG-rated movie, which beat Compton (this week's #1 title) in theaters on Friday, had a robust $9,692 per screen average.

War Room, however, was the story of the weekend. Sony's faith-based film from their Affirm division flew so far under the radar that it didn't even get a Cinemascore. But it nearly stole Compton's title and, at the same time, became the biggest hit for the Kendrick brothers. Their modestly-budgeted flicks have a great return on investment. War Room has a reported budget of $3.5M while their 2011 Courageous had a $2M budget, going on to a domestic cume of $34.5. Their 2008 Fireproof had a $33.5M domestic cume on a budget of $500K.

Hitmakers Behind Courageous and Fireproof Go Independent

The production team behind the hit movies, Courageous, Fireproof and Facing the Giants have launched a new production company.

With the support and blessing of their pastor, Alex and Stephen have expanded their movie making endeavors beyond Sherwood Baptist Church's walls.  Kendrick Brothers Productions has launched an independent movie production company designed to partner with believers across the nation and help train the next generation of Christian filmmakers. The Kendrick brothers plan to make their next movie under this new paradigm.

Pastor Catt said, “Jim and I are blessed to call Alex and Stephen our friends and co-laborers for the Gospel. They will continue to live in Albany and be an active part of the ministry of Sherwood Baptist Church. We love these guys and are grateful for God sending them to our staff over a decade ago. It will be exciting for us to take the steps of faith required to see where God will take us. No matter what lies ahead, this has been an incredible ride for all of us. Our prayers are with them as they pursue future endeavors.”

In a recent update on their site, Stephen posted that filming will begin next week:

Over the last five months we set up a production office, conducted online and live casting sessions, locked in our crew, and scouted the needed locations for the story. Every location is visually rich and completely fresh to us. God has provided an amazing cast of strong believers. Some are new faces to us, others you will recognize from our previous films, and there are a few surprises that many will recognize from the Christian ministry world. The Lord has also provided an excellent crew of Christian filmmakers and film-school interns. Many of them have been praying for God to open the door for them to work on a movie project that honors Him. Our production office is humming along. Lots of buzz. Tons of progress every day. We are very grateful that multiple pastors and churches are working together and surrounding this effort in prayer.

Sarah Drew, Sean Astin, Patricia Heaton and Alex Kendrick Star in Moms' Night Out

Principal photography has wrapped on Moms' Night Out, a film that celebrates real family life—where everything can go wrong and still turn out all right.

“We wanted to make a film that the whole family could enjoy,” said Kevin Downes, the film's producer who also acts in the movie.

In the film, all Allyson and her friends want is a peaceful, grown-up evening of dinner and conversation . . . a long-needed moms’ night out. But in order to enjoy high heels, adult conversation and food not served in a bag, they need their husbands to watch the kids for a few hours—what could go wrong?

“I feel like everything in the script happened at my home last week,” said Jon Erwin, who co-wrote Moms' Night Out with Andrea Nasfell and co-directed with his brother Andrew. “It’s a light-hearted look at the joys and challenges moms and dads face today, giving all the time kids need while still finding time for each other.”

Coming to theaters in 2014, Moms' Night Out chronicles one night out gone awry, as three harried moms, their husbands, a sister-in-law with a misplaced baby, a tattoo parlor owner, a motorcycle gang and one bewildered cabbie learn to embrace the beautiful mess called parenting.

“We grew up watching great family comedies,” said Andrew Erwin. “We felt it was time to bring the genre of clean family comedy back to the big screen, and we brought a powerful comedic cast with us to do it.”

Moms' Night Out also loops in a little wholesome passion between a wife and her husband, played by Grey’s Anatomy’s Sarah Drew as Allyson and Sean Astin as Sean.

"I love that the film is not just a comedy but also a love story between Allyson and Sean,” Drew said.

Moms' Night Out spotlights the unfulfilled expectations and serial self-doubts many moms feel . . . then reassures us that the key is raising kids in a loving home.

“I’m excited to be a part of the group of women in a comedy that is reality for families everywhere,” said Everybody Loves Raymond and The Middle star, two-time Emmy winner and mom of four Patricia Heaton from the MNO set. “I’ve had so many people come up to me over the years and say, ‘Your show got us through a very difficult time in our family and raised our spirits.’ I think sometimes in a family the only way to diffuse a tense situation is to make a joke or mock yourself or the situation. At some point you just have to laugh about it. That’s what we hope will happen with Moms' Night Out.”

Heaton is an executive producer on the film along with her husband, David Hunt, who joins her onscreen as well, playing a local cabbie caught up in the fun.

Moms' Night Out features Sarah Drew (Grey’s Anatomy), Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings), Patricia Heaton (Everybody Loves Raymond, The Middle), Alex Kendrick (Courageous), Robert Amaya (Courageous), Anjelah Johnson (MADtv) and platinum-selling country recording artist Trace Adkins (The Lincoln Lawyer) is “Bones,” a philosophical tattoo artist with a checkered past and a load of wisdom.

This second feature film from Andrew and Jon Erwin follows on the buzz created by their 2012 hit October Baby that surprised the film industry with a No. 8 box office debut against big-budget competition and drew page 1-A coverage in The New York Times.

Courageous Remains in Top 10

For the fifth straight week, Courageous remains in the Top 10 grossing over $1.8 million and cuming over almost $28 million.

Dolphin Tale brought in another $1.6 million to bring its total to $67 million.

Courageous and Dolphin Tales Still Heard at the Box Office

Dolphin Tale dropped from first to third with an estimated $9.2M, off 34%, for a $49.1M cume. It looks to end up grossing around $70M. Fatherhood pic Courageous lost 49% of its crowd and took in an estimated $4.6M for a total of $15.9M. The low-budget $2M drama is headed for an estimated $25M.  Courageous continued to have one of the highest averages per theater - this time coming in third.

Tony Dungy: 'Courageous' Movie Will Impact Men

Former NFL coach Tony Dungy has watched the upcoming film "Courageous," and he wants other men to do so as well. "It's a great movie. I think men, especially, are going to look at this and really connect and identify," Dungy said recently. "Every guy who looks at this [movie]," Dungy said, "is going to see themselves in some way and say, 'How can I be better with the hole in my parenting?' I think it's going to be special."

Courageous, which opens Sept. 30, is the latest film from Sherwood Pictures which also made "Fireproof" and "Facing the Giants." With a police force as the film's backdrop, the story follows five men as they seek to become better fathers. Most reviewers who have seen Courageous are calling it the best film yet from Sherwood.

The Auburn Tigers football team took a break from practice and team meetings this summer for a screening and it was received quite well by the team. Head coach Gene Chizik called Courageous a "tremendous movie with a great message." "I want this to hit you because it's got nothing to do with football," Chizik told the team. "It's about you being a man. That, long after all this is over, is the most important thing, and it's not even close." Ken Bevel, who plays officer Nathan Hayes in Courageous, said he was honored to watch the screening with the defending national champions.

Fireproof Proves to be a $30 Million Winner

Fireproof remains in the Top 20 at the Box Office (currently #13) and has passed $30 million in ticket sales. Not too shabby for a movie with an approximate budget of $500K.

Hopefully the box office receipts are indicative of this film's impact on our culture and that positive influence will be magnified over time. It's also great to see a movie that effectively uses Christian music so well embraced.