Faith-Based Box Office: 'I Can Only Imagine' and 'Paul, Apostle of Christ' Score in the Top 10
Faith-based films performed well at the box office for a second straight weekend, with "I Can Only Imagine" capturing the third spot once again.
"Paul, Apostle of Christ" landed in the eighth spot in its debut weekend, earning $5 million for Sony's Affirm Films.
"I Can Only Imagine" held strong in its second weekend in theaters, scoring a solid $13.8 million. That brings its total earnings to $38 million – an impressive performance for a film that only cost $7 million to create.
The movie tells the story behind the popular Christian song about heaven. It beat films with much bigger budgets, like "Tomb Raider" and "Sherlock Gnomes."
It's rare for two films with Christian themes to make the top 10 at the box office, and while the earnings aren't astronomical, it's the kind of success that makes Hollywood take notice.
"I Can Only Imagine" is a story of pain and victory, revealed through the true-life account of Bart Millard who suffered at the hands of an abusive father – a father who eventually became transformed into a kind man by the power of Jesus Christ.
It stars Dennis Quaid as Bart's father, Arthur. He spoke with CBN News about the movie's message of healing.
"The gift that Arthur gave to Bart was that Bart did not have to carry that around for the rest of his life, which would be a heavy, heavy load. He broke that chain and freed Bart as well. Just a beautiful, beautiful story about making the impossible possible," he noted.
Meanwhile, "Paul, Apostle of Christ" stars Jim Caviezel who once played the role of Jesus in the most successful biblical film of all time, "The Passion of the Christ."
In his latest biblical film, Caviezel plays the role of Luke, who wrote part of the Bible, as he visits the apostle Paul while he was imprisoned by the Romans.
Caviezel spoke to CBN News about the film saying, "The message of hope is throughout the film, it permeates, like the Bible, it permeates your heart and you feel loved when you walk out of the film."
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