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October 3, 2011

'Courageous' No. 1 New Film at Box Office

The latest from Sherwood Baptist beats bigger-name movies . . . on far fewer screens

Mark Moring

The makers of Facing the Giants and Fireproof have another winner on their hands: Courageous, the latest film from Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga., earned more than $9 million over the weekend to finish No. 1 among new releases and fourth overall at the box office.

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The film, which was made for just $2 million, has no movie stars, but did better than new releases starring Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (50/50), Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz (Dream House), and Anna Faris and Chris Evans (What's Your Number?). The numbers for Courageous are even more impressive considering that it played in less than half of the theaters of those other films -- it opened in only 1,161 theaters, compared to 2,458 for 50/50, 2,661 for Dream House, and 3,002 for What's Your Number? The top three films -- Dolphin Tale, Moneyball, and The Lion King -- all played on 2,300 screens or more. The $7,806 per-screen average for Courageous far exceeded others in the top five; The Lion King earned $4,537 per screen.

The weekend numbers beat Fireproof's opening weekend by $2,2 million, and make Courageous the fifth-best opening of all time for a Christian movie, behind only The Passion of the Christ and the three Narnia movies. Box Office Mojo's Ray Subers writes, "Made outside of Hollywood without any major stars, Courageous managed to fly under most radars (including my own) until very recently. It's unfair to ignore the vast majority of church-going Americans for whom typical Hollywood fare isn't of great interest, though, and Sherwood Pictures has impressively found a way to mobilize this subset of the population. It will be interesting to see if Courageous can hold as well as Fireproof did when it went on to earn $33.46 million, or nearly five times its opening weekend, in 2008."

posted by Mark Moring | Comments (7)

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This movie was the best I've seen this year. As touching as Dolphin Tale was, this movie had more laughs and touching scenes, and had me from the beginning. It's the only movie I've seen in sometime that makes me think about seeing it again. We need more movies like this one, with a positive and challenging message about real life.

Posted By: Scott | October 3, 2011 6:20 PM

Thank you, Christian Post, for reporting this good news! COURAGEOUS is about shaping Godly fathers, which would turn America around if pastors would challenge men to sign and live The Resolution for Men depicted in COURAGEOUS. SaveCalifornia.com has been promoting this life-changing, family-redeeming film here: http://savecalifornia.com/courageous.html

Posted By: SaveCalifornia.com | October 3, 2011 7:16 PM

we have a mens ministry at our church that is supported by our pastors. it is called Mens Fraternity, by robert lewis from little rock arkansaw, awsome series.

Posted By: henry unruh | October 4, 2011 11:04 PM

This was an outstanding movie! I still can't understand why Christianity Today's reviewer only gave it two and a half stars, while CinemaScore gave the movie an A+ rating. Guess CT doesn't know a good movie when they see one!

Posted By: Julie | October 5, 2011 10:13 AM

Men depicted in COURAGEOUS. SaveCalifornia.

Posted By: wctube | October 10, 2011 9:13 AM

From laughing one moment to crying the next - this possibly may be my favorite film ever! What a challenge to the fathers today - great movie. I can't imagine NOT liking it!

Posted By: Debbi | October 10, 2011 4:04 PM

I think Sandra BUllock 's The Blind Side also made very good! It's also a Christian story. And another Christian blockbuster followed also,just dont remember.I'm happy that Christian films get more recognition today from moviegoers.Praise the LORD.

Posted By: jia tablazon | November 5, 2011 7:25 AM

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