Last week’s opening of the faith-based film Heaven Is for Real resulted in a gross take of more than $3.7 million after showing on fewer than 2,500 screens. The movie, backed by Sony, produced by T.D. Jakes and directed by veteran director Randall Wallace, told the story of Nebraska pastor Todd Burpo (played in the movie by Greg Kinnear) and his young son, who said he found himself in heaven during an emergency surgery. Breitbart.com reported that moviegoers age 35 and under gave the film an “A+” CinemaScore, while the film received an overall “A” from those who saw it opening day.
Breitbart.com also wrote, “Compare Heaven Is for Real to the recent Noah. The former didn’t draw an ounce of controversy in the weeks before its release, and its story is aimed at people with a strong sense of faith. Noah‘s willingness to take creative liberties with the source material and swap environmentalism for holy themes clearly hurt its box office potential. The film roared out of the gate, and now it may not cross the $100 million mark domestically. Word of mouth matters, especially with faithful crowds.”