‘The numbers are incredible, especially coming out of a pandemic’

WND News Center

Jesus Revolution, a faith-based film starring Jonathan Roumie and Kelsey Grammer, has surged past $40 million at the box office and has become entertainment company Lionsgate’s highest-grossing film since 2019.

The film has earned $40,862,465 as of March 13 since its Feb. 24 release date, according to Box Office Mojo. That puts the film in the top spot for Lionsgate since the pandemic, surpassing the Ryan Reynolds-starring action-comedy Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, which only earned $38 million in 2021.

“The numbers are incredible, especially coming out of a pandemic,” producer Kevin Downes told Christian Headlines. Downes also said he was amazed that so many were still “coming out in droves” and that the audiences “are not going away.”

The movie has finished in the Top 5 at the box office in its first two weekends, Christian Headlines added.

Star Jonathan Roumie insisted that the film holds lessons for today.

“It’s about faith, it’s about hope and redemption and finding your identity in God,” Roumie said. “It’s the great human conundrum, it’s the great question we all ask ourselves: What am I doing? Why am I here? What is my purpose? And every generation has that and gets distracted from God. … When people come to the realization that God is their identity, God is behind their identity, everything falls into place.”

The film follows the true-life story of Chuck Smith (Grammer), a traditional pastor who grudgingly welcomes hippies into his congregation at the height of the countercultural “Jesus movement” during the late 1960s and early 70s. Smith’s path eventually intersects with the young future pastor Greg Laurie (Joel Courtney).

The comedy-drama, also starring Kelsey Grammer, grossed $15.9 million during its opening weekend, finishing at No. 3, and trouncing most of Hollywood’s other fare. Analysts had only expected the Lionsgate release to earn between $6 million and $7 million upon its opening.

As Breitbart News’ John Nolte noted on March 7, Jesus Revolution grossed more than five of this year’s Best Picture Oscar nominees.

Co-star Kelsey Grammer said that the movie was a blessing in his life.

“I’ve had hiccups. I’ve had some tragic times. I have wrestled with those and worked my way through them: sometimes rejecting faith, sometimes rejecting God even, in a period of being pretty angry about it, like, ‘Where were you?’ That kind of thing,” the Cheers star said.

“But I have come to terms with it and have found great peace in my faith and in Jesus. It’s not cavalier — Jesus made a difference in my life. That’s not anything I’ll apologize for.”

This story was first published by Breitbart.com.