'Jesus Revolution' Earnings Far Exceed Industry Estimates

The faith-based film "Jesus Revolution" more than doubled industry estimates by raking in over $15 million at the weekend box office.

According to Deadline, the Lionsgate release, which tells the story of the Jesus movement in the late 1960s and 1970s, was forecast to earn between $6 million and $7 million in ticket sales.

"Jesus Revolution" also earned director Jon Erwin's fourth A+ CinemaScore of his career, after "American Underdog," "I Can Only Imagine," and "Woodlawn." CinemaScore President Harold Mintz applauded the achievement as "unprecedented."

"Jon Erwin has now achieved four A+ CinemaScores, more than any other filmmaker since we have been compiling data," Mintz said, according to Collider. "For a director to achieve that accomplishment once is a rarity. But to hit that mark four times is not only an incredible distinction — it's unprecedented."

Collider noted: "'Jesus Revolution' follows a disillusioned young man (Joel Courtney) who meets a street-preacher (Jonathan Roumie) in 1970s California. The two join a pastor (Kelsey Grammer) and help him reopen his languishing church."

Lionsgate relied mostly on word of mouth to boost the film's popularity through church and university screenings. The film went on to play in nearly 2,500 theaters, earning an $6,272 per theater, The Western Journal reported.

Grammer told NBC's "Today" that shooting the film transported him back to the late 1960s and early 1970s.

"What it reminded me most of … in our time, the love, the sense of community, the things that we all had, it was real, and I miss it," he said, according to The Western Journal. 

"Who knows? Maybe this film will bring some of that back. The light in people's eyes then was genuine and sincere, and there was a connection of faith that was extraordinary."

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