The Kendrick Brothers’ War Room (Provident Films), one of the most successful Christian films to date, was set to release on DVD Dec. 22. Many stores were taking pre-orders before the official street date, but controversy erupted when the Family Christian Stores chain started selling the DVD prior to the on-sale date.

After responding to several inquiries from various Christian retailers, Family Christian provided Christian Retailing with the following statement:

“Family Christian believed that other stores, both inside and outside the CBA, were planning soft releases of the film War Room on Dec. 19. While we always honor street dates for new releases, we believed in this unique situation we should be prepared to provide our customers with the same opportunity to get the War Room DVD early that they would have at other retailers.

“At Family Christian, we are committed to operating with integrity at all times and doing everything possible to deliver on our promise of offering our customers an exceptional shopping experience. It was not our intention to create an advantage for Family Christian. War Room was only made available in-store, and Family Christian did nothing to actively promote the soft release through our extensive network of direct mail and digital marketing channels in advance.

“However, given the facts, as we now know them now, we would not have planned a soft release on the 19th. For the anger and frustration that our actions caused in the industry, we sincerely apologize. We will never again allow for confusion on something as critical as a key release date on a major film.”

Provident Films could not be reached for comment on the matter.

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