‘Courageous’ nears $30 million mark

ALBANY — As of Monday afternoon, “Courageous,” the fourth film made by the moviemaking arm of Sherwood Baptist Church, had made $27.8 million.

The Sherwood Pictures film, which cost $2 million to make, collected $9.1 million its opening weekend, according to Box Office Mojo. Opening in 1,161 theaters, it had a per-theater average of $7,849 its first three days of release.

Based on the figures from Monday, the film is ranked No. 10 overall. So far, it has not dropped below the No. 11 spot.

“Every day, we hear from hundreds of people thanking Sherwood for making ‘Courageous,'” said Kris Fuhr, vice president of Provident Films. “We recently passed 300,000 Facebook fans and are thankful for the impact of the movie and the continued support of moviegoers everywhere.”

In the days since its Sept. 30 public premiere, “Courageous'” widest release has been in 1,214 theaters in the United States. The film is also showing in Canada, Latin America and Australia, according to the movie’s website.

On Friday, there were more than 100 additional theaters that “Courageous” opened in — including theaters in Blue Ridge, Decatur and Eastman.

It is now playing in 1,134 theaters.

The most recent updates of Box Office Mojo have the film ranked among the top 100 movies within the past year. Readers of the platform have given the movie an overall grade of “B+” with 83.1 percent giving it a grade of “A.”

“Courageous” is the fourth film to be released by Sherwood after “Flywheel,” “Facing the Giants” and “Fireproof.” The most recent predecessor, “Fireproof,” grossed slightly more than $33 million in theaters.

The $33 million gross included the $6.8 million in ticket sales it had made on its opening weekend in September 2008.