“His Only Son” Crashes Box Office Party

“His Only Son” had an impressive Easter weekend.

The movie, which is the first in Angel Studios’ wave of theatrical releases, came in third place at the box office, earning about $5.5 million on almost 2,000 screens, according to Deadline.com.

This figure is half of what major new releases usually earn.

Here is the official description of the film:

Abraham (Nicolas Mouawad), his son, and their two servants journey for three days to the place of the offering. Along the way, the men encounter dangers and trials as Abraham silently relives memories spanning the decades he and his wife Sarah (Sara Sayed) longed for the son God had promised…the son he must now lay upon the altar. Answering age-old questions as to why the Lord would require such a sacrifice, HIS ONLY SON profoundly explores mankind’s relationship to God and encourages viewers to turn inward and ask: Can your faith still stand when you are asked to give everything?

Critics mostly ignored the film – only four Rotten Tomatoes-approved critics wrote a review on the site. Mike McGranaghan of AisleSeat.com gave it a three out of four stars rating. However, the audience enjoyed the movie, giving it a 95 percent “fresh” rating.

The film was made on a $250,000 budget, which is even smaller than most indie films. David Helling, a former U.S. Marine who directed and co-wrote “His Only Son,” used his G.I. Bill to attend film school, and this movie is his first feature-length project after five shorts. The movie’s Prints & Advertising budget was covered by a crowdfunding campaign, marking an industry first, according to Angel Studios.

The pandemic caused significant delays in the production of this film. However, the timing of the film’s release seems to have paid off. “It seems like Christ is on the minds and the mouths of so many people around the country and around the world and it’s like, ‘Wow, this film could not come out at a better time,” Helling told Fox News. The $5 million that “His Only Son” earned is even more impressive when compared to the opening weekend earnings of several Oscar-bait films from last year’s awards season such as “She Said,” “Tar,” “Bones and All,” and “The Banshees of Inisherin.”