Fireproof, a Christian film released by Franklin-based Provident Films and Sony Pictures, proved itself a force to be reckoned with last weekend.
It was the weekend's fourth-best-selling movie in the nation, earning $6.5 million and outpacing the star-studded casts of movies such as Burn After Reading, according to Encino, Calif.-based box office tracking firm Media By Numbers.
Analysts said it's a sign there's a strong appetite for more faith-based films.
"Nobody saw it coming," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media by Numbers, adding it proves faith-based audiences "really vote with their dollars to support films that reflect their beliefs."
Fireproof stars Kirk Cameron of TV show Growing Pains as a firefighter who rescues people daily but who has trouble saving his own marriage. After some advice from his father, the firefighter turns to God for guidance.
The film cost $500,000 plus post-production expenses to make, according to Provident Music Group. Provident Films is one of the company's divisions. Sherwood Pictures, a film ministry of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga., was producer.
Provident Music Group has artists such as Casting Crowns and Third Day on its label — both bands had music featured in Fireproof. Sales of nine songs featured in the film have been boosted by huge percentages on iTunes after the movie's release, said Terry A. Hemmings, CEO and president of Provident Music Group.
Part of the movie's marketing was on a grass-roots level to faith-based organizations and church groups. Some local churches in the Nashville area rented movie theaters so their congregations could see the movie. First Baptist Nashville offered free baby-sitting.
"If you can find opinion leaders of large groups of people and have them promote your product, that is brilliant marketing," said Larry Musick, senior director of marketing at Lipscomb University.
Tom Crow, executive pastor of First Baptist Nashville, said the film offers a great opportunity to help couples improve their marriages. His church rented out a theater for 500 guests to watch the movie.
"It's a great success story about the difference that God can make in marriage," he said.
Other high-grossing Christian films in U.S. sales have included The Passion of the Christ at $370.3 million, according to Media By Numbers. Facing the Giants (also released by Provident) earned more than $10 million at the box office. It cost about $100,000 to make, according to Provident Films.
The Passion of the Christ ranks No. 12 in domestic sales, but its gross still falls far below the highest-grossing film in history, Titanic, at more than
$600 million in U.S. sales.
Fireproof had success because it's "comfort food with a little spice of inspiration and guidance," said film professor Valorie Quarles of Watkins College of Art, Design & Film in Nashville.
