NASHVILLE, Tenn. — “Letters to God,” the faith-based movie about an 8-year-old boy with cancer who mails letters to the Lord, finished in the Top 10 on its opening weekend.
The debut film from Possibility Pictures grossed $1.25 million, according to studio estimates posted at BoxOfficeMojo.com. Among the top 10 films, it also finished 10th in a per-theater average.
Because it debuted in only 897 theaters — a third or a fourth of the number of theaters a big Hollywood picture would open in — the per-theater average is closely watched. By that standard, Letters to God finished below the per-theater numbers of recent faith movies such as “Fireproof” (2008) and “Facing the Giants” (2006). Those two movies — made by Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga. — opened with a per-theater average of $8,148 and $3,046, respectively, with Fireproof’s numbers no doubt helped by the success of Sherwood’s earlier film. Letters to God’s per-theater average was $1,394. It did fare better than another faith-based movie, the 2008 film “Billy Graham: The Early Years,” which averaged $681 per theater its first weekend.
Letters to God has received positive reviews from many Christian reviewers, including Baptist Press film critic Phil Boatwright, who said it was a “triumph” and “one of the best films you and your family will see all year.”
The movie was inspired by a true story of a family from Grace Baptist Church in Nashville, Tenn.