Angel Studios’ release of the faith-based indie His Only Son made the most of the Easter weekend, grossing an estimated $3.25 million across Friday-Sunday, for a running domestic total of $11 million. The film debuted with $5.5 million last week, and fell by 41% this weekend. His Only Son finished just outside the top five on the domestic box office chart, which was topped by the smash hit The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The animated video game adaptation debuted with a record-breaking $204 million across five days.
His Only Son picked up $1 million on its second Friday, $1.25 million on Saturday, and an estimated $1 million on Sunday. The film is currently playing in over 1,900 domestic theaters. The biblical drama is produced, edited, written and directed by David Helling, and is based on the Old Testament tale of Abraham (Nicolas Mouawad) being commanded by God to sacrifice his son Isaac (Edaan Moskowitz).
The film was produced on a modest budget of $250,000. A crowdfunding campaign in partnership with Angel Studios raised more than $1,235,000 for prints and advertising costs. According to Angel Studios, it is also the first-ever crowdfunded film to have a nationwide theatrical release. His Only Son received a solid A CinemaScore from opening day audiences, and currently sits at a “fresh” 80% rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 10 reviews.
His Only Son debuted at the number three spot last weekend, behind Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and John Wick: Chapter 4. Reacting to the film's box office performance, Jared Geesey, Senior VP of Global Distribution at Angel Studios, described it as “the little indie that could,” and praised the director’s passion. In his own words:
“His Only Son is the ‘little indie that could’— a film made on a tiny budget by a director who went to film school on the G.I. Bill based on a story people have wrestled with for untold centuries. Our investors believed in the project, and crowdfunded the P&A, so word could get out. This film was up against big studio films with serious marketing budgets, and yet, this film continues to turn in incredible numbers. We believe that the audience is the future of this industry, and we have faith they’ll prove that over and over again with each new offering they choose to get behind.”
The Faith-Based Audience Shows Up When Summoned
His Only Son was released just a month after Jesus Revolution, another faith-based film that successfully attracted its target audience and eventually legged it to over $50 million at the domestic box office. In fact, the faith-based demographic remains largely underserved, with most targeted releases doing splendid numbers and generating enthusiastic response. The 2019 film Breakthrough grossed $50 million globally. Also from 2019, the drama Overcomer did nearly $40 million worldwide. I Can Only Imagine, released in 2018, grossed over $85 million globally, and the musical drama I Still Believe made over $9 million in its opening weekend in 2020, on its way to a lifetime global haul of $16 million.
His Only Son also stars Sara Seyed, Ottavio Taddei, Nicolai Perez and Daniel da Silva. You can watch the film’s trailer here, and read the official synopsis down below.
His Only Son recounts one of the most controversial moments in the Old Testament—when Abraham was commanded by God to sacrifice his son Isaac on the mountain of Moriah. While traveling to the place of the sacrifice, alongside Isaac and two servants, Abraham is flooded with vivid memories from the years he and Sarah spent longing for the son they were promised—the son he must now lay upon the altar.