Add to that the very low production cost, and getting His Only Son made and distributed evidently cost about $1.5 million altogether.īecause theatres keep about half of the box-office revenue, conventional wisdom says a film needs to earn double its cost to make a profit, which would be about $3 million in His Only Son ’s case-so if His Only Son has already grossed over $5 million, there is a very good chance it is already in the black, even before DVD releases and other future revenue streams are taken into account. It was produced completely independently (Angel Studios did not come on-board as distributor until last November, long after the film was completed) Īnd it was produced for less than a quarter million dollars (whereas The Chosen ’s third season reportedly had a budget of over $2 million per episode, which means that each of the show’s last two theatrical releases-both of which were two-episode packages-could have cost over $4 million).Īngel Studios released His Only Son after raising $1.2 million to cover the film’s distribution costs.

It has no major names in front of or behind the camera

His Only Son ’s success, relative to The Chosen ’s, is all the more remarkable when you consider that: Weekend-to-weekend comparisons are skewed somewhat by the fact that each of The Chosen ’s releases came out on a different day of the week, but only The Chosen Season 3: Episodes 1 & 2 -which opened on a Friday, like His Only Son -had a bigger first weekend ($8.8 million in November 2022 ). His Only Son ’s first-weekend gross is bigger than the first-weekend grosses for two of The Chosen ’s three theatrical releases. It’s the first major theatrical release from Angel Studios, a streaming service that launched its own theatrical division last month after having a lot of success with special Fathom Events releases of select episodes from The Chosen. The success of His Only Son is notable for several reasons: No other film in wide release is expected to earn more than $1,950 per screen this week. The film is currently playing in 1,920 theatres-a lot fewer than any other film in the top six, all of which are playing in at least 2,827 theatres-and it is estimated the film will earn between $2,600 and $2,900 per screen, behind only Dungeons & Dragons ($9,987 per screen) and John Wick ($7,317 per screen). In the meantime, one thing seems clear, at least: His Only Son will have the third-best per-screen average of any film in wide release this weekend. The final figures will be released sometime tomorrow morning. Variety says the film is looking at $5 million, period, which would basically tie it for fourth place with Creed III (which is now in its fifth week). The Hollywood Reporter says the film “came in just under $5.3 million”. His Only Son, which tells the story of Abraham and the near-sacrifice of Isaac, is currently on track to gross at least $5 million this weekend, though sources disagree as to whether it will go any higher than that-and, if so, by how much:īox Office Mojo says the film is looking at $5.5 million, which would land it in third place, behind Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves ($38.5 million in its first week) and John Wick: Chapter 4 ($28.2 million in its second week).ĭeadline says the film is looking at $5.3 million, which would basically tie it for third place with Scream VI (which is now in its fourth week). The original story remains as it was, but see the updates that follow it.Ī low-budget Bible film from a brand new distributor was one of the top five-maybe even three-movies at the North American box office this week. Note: This post was updated April 6 to reflect the fact that Jesus Revolution got bumped from the top ten by another “faith-based” release that got added to the list some time after the weekend.

Box office mojo