Son Of God amazed Hollywood by grossing $9.5 million at the box office on its opening night, Friday, February 28th. That put the movie just shy of #1, 5% behind the new thriller,
Non-Stop. It is now expected to gross between $25-28 million through Sunday (opening weekend), shattering Fox's initial expectations of $12-15 million. While impressive, the haul falls way short of
The Pasion of the Christ's $83 million opening weekend a decade ago, which later went on to gross over $600 million worldwide.
Evangelical churches nationwide have rallied around the release, renting out entire theaters and opening the doors to the public for a free night at the movies. Rick Warren, pastor of mega-church Saddleback, went as far as to encourage his congregation to choose the movie over church if needed. "Let's send a message to Hollywood,'" Pastor Warren said. "Not every movie has to be a Bible movie, but when they do come out, let's support that, for sure."
San Diego's senior pastor Mile McPherson of Rock Church explained to local news why his congregation, along with Compassion International, bought every single seat in a local 19-screen theater for
Son Of God. "A lot of people can read about and talk about God, but to see everything on the screen really blows your mind. The Gospel is powerful, and this is just a pure, simple story of Jesus' life that people need to experience."
Son of God is the first major motion picture to depict the life of Christ since Mel Gibson's
Passion of the Christ released
a decade ago, and is the first movie on the complete life of Jesus Christ in nearly 50 years. Visit
www.SonOfGodMovie.com for more information and local tickets.
