'Miracles From Heaven' News: Can Faith-Based Films Succeed In The Box Office?
In the commercial film industry, the number of faith-based films is not that many. But recently, faith-based films have become appealing to the public, even resulting in box office success. In 2014, it was the Greg Kinnear-starrer "Heaven is For Real," which according to reports earned over $100 million in the box office, with only a $12 million budget. This year, it is Jennifer Garner's "Miracles From Heaven" that is making waves in the box office, even beating a franchise film on its opening weekend.
According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, the trend of faith-based films performing well in the box office means that these types of films are "building followings" among moviegoers. This also means that more and more producers are looking into making similar movies because of the growing audience for films that are characterized to be "belief-affirming," according to the report.
For the studio behind "Miracles From Heaven," Sony Pictures, this means investing into creating a division called Affirm Films, within the studio dedicated to making movies like these.
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"Miracles from Heaven" is a film about a 10-year old with a rare, incurable disease, and her very religious family who wants her to live. The little girl goes through a near-death experience which she emerges from, apparently without any trace of the disease. It is based on a memoir by the girl's mother, Christy Beam.
Christy Beam was played by Jennifer Garner, while Martin Henderson played her husband. Queen Latifah also stars as the waitress who befriends the 10-year old Anna (Kylie Rogers). Eugenio Derbez played Doctor Nurko of the Boston Children's Hospital, who was Anna's doctor.
"Miracles from Heaven" opened on March 16, and according to a report in Forbes, earned $15 million during its opening weekend. It even outdid "Allegiant," a franchise film from "The Divergent" series. "Miracles" was made with only a $13 million budget.
