‘God’s Not Dead’ box-office success rockets Newsboys sales Print
Written by Jeremy Burns   
Thursday, 27 March 2014 11:24 AM America/New_York

GodsNotDead-webPure Flix film God’s Not Dead made an impressive debut showing, ranking No. 4 of all new movies released the weekend ending March 23 and boosting sales of Newsboys’ 2011 project, God’s Not Dead (Inpop Records/Capitol Christian Distribution), to No. 5 on the iTunes Christian Albums chart this week. Likewise, the album’s title track has been the most downloaded Christian song since the film released, while God’s Not Dead: The Motion Picture Soundtrack (Inpop Records/Capitol Christian) continues to be a Top 10-selling general market soundtrack on iTunes.

Grossing $9.2 million its opening weekend, the film saw early box-office success. Extensive marketing for the movie and Newsboys’ visibility headlining the 2014 Winter Jam Spectacular Tour helped to make the band’s God’s Not Dead project the top-selling catalog album this year. Selling more than 32,000 copies in three months, the CD jumped to No. 7 on SoundScan’s Overall Christian/Gospel Albums chart, with 4,452 units sold last week. Similarly, the “God’s Not Dead” digital track has achieved sales exceeding 80,000 downloads in 2014 alone, 11,000 of those since the film’s debut.

“We are so honored to have been part of the top-notch marketing campaign and movie launch for Pure Flix’s God’s Not Dead,” said Inpop Records President/General Manager Mark Lusk. “It’s been exciting to see such a great early response to the film and its impact on audiences as well as on sales of the soundtrack, Newsboys album and song. Pure Flix has been a great partner.”

The film’s release has also caused sales of God’s Not Dead: The Motion Picture Soundtrack to increase by more than 200%. The project’s “Hold You Up,” performed by actor/artist Shane Harper, is currently No. 6 on Christian Hot AC Radio, with 2,100 downloads last week.