Movie by Sherwood leaving Giant impact on Hollywood

Three weeks after its Sept. 29 release, Facing the Giants, the full-length movie from Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, was showing on 325 screens nationwide, down from the 441 on which it debuted. But it only dropped four places, down to number 16, an impressive standing against seven Hollywood blockbusters that had opened during the same time frame. The per-screen averages put the movie at number 8, despite being at number 16 for overall box office receipts.

It passed $3 million gross receipts on Oct. 12 – an impressive milestone for a PG movie that cost only $100,000 to make. The movie also lost only 25.1 percent in gross from its first to its second weekends – a figure considered a success in Hollywood. By contrast, Flyboys lost 60.8 percent, The Guardian 46.9 percent and Open Season 33.9 percent on their second weekends.

The movie’s website at www.facingthegiants.com listed 55 Booster clubs which were bringing the movie to 33 new screens as the movie made its first appearance into the Northeast, now showing in Albany, New York; Springfield, Vermont; Derry, New Hampshire; and Washington, D.C.

In addition, former Atlanta Falcons head football coach and Americus native Dan Reeves wrote a guest column on the movie in the Oct. 17 issue of USA Today. NBC’s Today Show aired a segment on the movie as well during its Oct. 18 broadcast. While on a trip in Israel last week, Sherwood pastor Michael Catt spotted a mention of the movie in The Jerusalem Post.

The movie soundtrack, featuring compositions by popular recording artists such as Third Day, Bebo Norman, and Casting Crowns, was released on Oct. 3 and can be purchased from Christian bookstores or from the website.

Persons desiring to locate a screening near them can type in a Zip Code on the move’s website and be given a variety of options.