Months and months ahead of the normal schedule, the Christian film's strange, coronavirus-stunted journey takes its next step.
I Still Believe arrives at the Blu-ray, DVD, Digital-sales stage of the game today, much earlier than filmmakers Andrew Erwin and Jon Erwin or their partners at Lionsgate could have imagined when it debuted on March 13th. The biopic about Christian singer Jeremy Camp roared out of the gate, claiming the top spot at the North American box office on opening night. And with stars like Christian actor K.J. Apa and Britt Robertson in the leading roles, it finished its first weekend in third place overall, hauling in $9.1 million.
Unfortunately, the first weekend also proved to be the only weekend, as theaters all across the U.S. closed in an effort to combat the spread of the coronavirus. A handful of drive-ins showed the picture for the next week or so, but for all intents and purposes the movie's theatrical run was over after that first week in wide release; digital on-demand rentals followed by the end of March.
Today, at least a month and half before I Still Believe would normally have finished its theatrical run - a run we guessed would have made some $40 million, comes the next phase of the effort to recoup the money invested in the film. And after generating only $10.5 worldwide in its one-week release, it will be a steep climb. No word about what the on-demand run made, but whatever it was, the number is way short of $40 million. And while the budget was never publicly announced, we figure the movie is a long, long way from that number, too, when you add the marketing costs to those of the actual production.
Plenty of secular pictures are in this same boat, having endured similarly truncated theatrical releases because of the virus, and the Erwin Brother's new partnership with Lionsgate will undoubtedly allow them to weather this storm. In fact, as we reported here, they already have plans to shoot several new faith-based films before the end of this year, provided circumstances allow. Of course, they will still be hoping to maximize the remaining revenue streams available on this movie, so if you'd like to buy it, you can find out how via this link.
Comments