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'War Room' wins weekend box office Print Email
Written by Christine D. Johnson   
Thursday, 10 September 2015 09:59 AM America/New_York

WarRoom-DavidWhitlowWar Room expanded to over 1,500 locations for the four-day Labor Day weekend and topped the domestic box office at $13.4 million, according to boxofficemojo.com. Released by Sony Pictures’ faith-based TriStar/Affirm Films label in partnership with Provident Films, War Room is the fifth film from brothers Alex and Stephen Kendrick.

Word of mouth, media attention, grass-roots marketing and social media sharing continued to bring audiences to the theater for the film's second weekend.

"Through several key elements including the strategic screen expansion, the targeted chase media campaign and promotions, the growing support from both the core audience as well as key leaders, churches, organizations and ministries in the faith community, we were able to ensure greater awareness of and access to War Room this past weekend," said Tana Evans, vice president of marketing and distribution for Affirm Films. "There is obviously a demand for quality content that resonates with the faith audience. Affirm Films is excited to have partnered with Provident Films and the Kendrick Brothers once again on a film that is affecting the lives of millions of people across the country and the world."

Kris Fuhr, senior vice president of Working Title Agency, who co-led the film's marketing on behalf of Provident Films with Tana Evans of Affirm, lauded the "huge team effort between Affirm, Provident, the Kendricks and hundreds of churches and ministries to share an authentic story of faith that clearly resonated with the audience."

The film’s social media accounts are being flooded with personal stories of how War Room has impacted the lives of viewers, with videos of unity between churches, redemption stories and spontaneous prayer in theaters being reported. Additionally, War Room has enjoyed media coverage from outlets such as Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, Forbes, USA Today, Entertainment Tonight, Associated Press, CBS and FOX News.

After opening as the No. 1 faith-based movie of 2015 and the highest in the genre since the April 2014 opening of Heaven Is for Real, the Kendrick Brothers' new PG-rated film was made with a budget of just $3.5 million.