'I Can Only Imagine' director: Movie industry 'dismissed' film prior to box office success
Holly Meyer
The low-budget Christian film "I Can Only Imagine" pulled off a David and Goliath moment this weekend with a surprising box office performance.
Jon Erwin, who co-directed the movie with his brother, can hardly believe it.
"It’s staggering," Erwin said in an interview with the USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee. "It’s like we're kids on top of a hill watching a snowball just roll down the hill completely out of control."
The inspirational drama hit theaters Friday with limited expectations. By the end of its opening weekend, "I Can Only Imagine" had claimed the No. 3 spot at the box office, sending a message to the movie industry that it should not underestimate faith-based films.
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► More:MercyMe's Bart Millard thought his father was going to kill him
"I think it's surprised the entire industry, including ourselves," Erwin said. "This just shows that there is this enormous audience out there."
Just how well did it do?
"I Can Only Imagine," which tells the true story behind the hit Christian song of the same name, was projected to bring in $2 million to $4 million in ticket sales this weekend, Erwin said. The movie, which cost only $7 million to make, blew those expectations away and instead pulled in $17.1 million, the Associated Press reported.
"None of us ever in our wildest dreams would have ever gotten close to this kind of prediction for the film," Erwin said.
In fact, "I Can Only Imagine" pulled in more money at the box office on opening weekend than the entire run of the Erwin brothers' previous film "Woodlawn." The Christian sports drama netted just over $14 million, he said.
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Only "Black Panther" and the revamped "Tomb Raider" outperformed "I Can Only Imagine" this weekend. The faith-based drama showed on more than 1,600 screens, which is less than half its competition, the AP reported. It beat out "A Wrinkle in Time" and "Love, Simon."
Why is it resonating with moviegoers?
The song "I Can Only Imagine," by Christian band MercyMe, was a surprise hit, too. Bart Millard, the leader of the band, wrote the song about his dying father and their fraught and redemptive relationship.
The movie, which stars Dennis Quaid and Cloris Leachman, brings that story to life. Erwin, who also co-wrote the screenplay, brought Milliard in early on to understand his thoughts on how an independent band from Texas came to have the best-selling Christian single in history.
"He was very quick to say, 'It's a rush of hope.' That's what people feel. They feel the this hope and it's the therapy of the song," Erwin said. "So we went with that with the movie and we said, 'OK, it's our job to make people feel the same thing.'"
The Lionsgate/Roadside Attraction release also received an A-plus CinemaScore. The audience was predominately female and overwhelmingly over the age of 35. Reviewers gave it a 67 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
What message does this send to Hollywood?
"I don’t think the industry predicted this," Erwin said. "They really dismissed the film prior to opening weekend — almost called it a failure before we even got a chance to open it."
The opening weekend success of "I Can Only Imagine" illustrates just how large the Christian audience is, and the movie industry should pay attention, Erwin said.
"We're serving an under-served audience," Erwin said.
Moviegoers want more optimistic, uplifting PG films they can enjoy with their entire families, Erwin said. He pointed to "Wonder" and "The Greatest Showman" as other examples. There are plenty of great movies that are the opposite and focus on the anti-hero, but people still want to be inspired, he said.
"We need hope like we need air," Erwin said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Reach Holly Meyer at hmeyer@tennessean.com or 615-259-8241 and on Twitter @HollyAMeyer.