Angel Studios’ first theatrical release produced with a production budget of $250,000, has been projected to place third at the weekend box office.
Box Office Mojo reports “His Only Son” took in more than $5.5 million, placing behind “John Wick: Chapter 4.”
Listen to the latest episode of CBN’s Quick Start podcast 👇
“We announced Angel Studios is officially in the theatrical game just two weeks ago when we appointed Brandon Purdie as our head of theatrical distribution, so we’re thrilled to have upset the box office with our first offering, which also happens to be the very first time in motion picture history that the P&A for a theatrical release was crowdfunded. Theaters are selling out across the country,” said Jared Geesey, Angel Studios’ senior vice president of Global Distribution.
“The box office is full of big and loud films. ‘His Only Son’ is a refreshingly deep and contemplative experience just in time for Easter Holy Week,” he added.
As CBN News reported last month, the movie has now become the first theatrical film to crowdfund for marketing funds in order to pay for distribution and advertising expenses. Described as “biblically accurate” and “authentic,” the movie was released in theaters on March 31 by Angel Studios, the streaming platform behind the most successful faith-based crowd-funded show of all time, “The Chosen.”
Tens of thousands of investors quickly took advantage of Angel’s crowdfunding investment opportunity for “His Only Son” to pay for what is known in the entertainment industry as “P&A” or “prints and advertising.” The movie had already been made.
“His Only Son” is an original biblical drama about one of the most heart-wrenching passages in the Bible when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac on the mountain of Moriah.
The motion picture illustrates the striking account of Abraham (played by Nicolas Mouawad), his son, and their two servants as they journey for three days to the place where the offering will be made. Along the way, the men encounter dangers and trials as Abraham silently relives memories spanning the decades he and his wife Sarah (played by Sara Sayed) longed for the son God had promised – the son he must now lay upon the altar.
Answering age-old questions as to why the Lord would require such a sacrifice, “His Only Son” profoundly explores mankind’s relationship with God and encourages viewers to turn inward and ask: Can your faith still stand when you are asked to give everything?
Angel Studios, the family-friendly, movie-making powerhouse behind the national distribution of His Only Son has produced several hugely successful shows including “The Chosen,” “Dry Bar Comedy,” and “The Wingfeather Saga.”
“The Chosen,” the first-ever multi-season TV series about the life of Jesus Christ, was one of the company’s first projects which earned hundreds of millions of views around the world.
Moviegoers are clamoring for more biblical stories. As CBN News reported in January, when the creators of “The Chosen” announced they would be premiering the last two episodes of season three in theaters, fans grabbed tickets so quickly that it crashed the ticketing website.
The series is currently shooting the fourth of seven planned seasons in Texas.
“His Only Son” also follows the Feb. 24 release of the hugely successful faith-based film “Jesus Revolution.” As CBN News has reported, that film tells the true story behind the Jesus Movement of the 1970s, including how Pastor Chuck Smith welcomed hippies looking for truth at his church.
The movie is based on Pastor Greg Laurie’s book, “Jesus Revolution,” which outlines “the true story of the national spiritual awakening in the early 1970s and its origins within a community of teenage hippies in Southern California.”
“Jesus Revolution” stars Kelsey Grammer and Jonathan Roumie. Roumie also portrays Jesus in Angel Studios’ “The Chosen.”
As of April 3, the movie has made more than $50 million at the box office.