"Facing the Giants" Does Miraculously at Box Office

Peter Whoriskey/TN : Oct 10, 2006
Washington Post

"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.