The makers of "Fireproof" tapped into the church market, arranging screenings for the National Baptist Pastors' convention before release and using word-of-mouth among church leaders. That and the "cool action scenes," he added. The themes resonated with the actor and devout Christian, a husband of 17 years, and father of six, he said. there are issues of communications, money, sex, addiction, porn, extramarital affairs, feeling respected at work but not at home, feeling respected by friends but not at home," Cameron told CNN. "Fireproof" began with a $500,000 budget and a fresh crop of church member/actors, but the film got a left-field boost when Cameron, best known as the 1980s heartthrob from the TV series "Growing Pains," read the script and asked to get involved. We had no clue what would happen with it." "Families and marriages are crumbing and we want to do something about it," said Kendrick, recalling the idea's genesis. The church leaders lit upon the idea of troubled relationships.
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It starred no professional actors - just members of their church - but made $10.2 million at the box office and sold 250,000 copies on DVD, launching the church into the national spotlight.
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They were just coming off making "Facing the Giants," a movie shot entirely in Albany on a $100,000 budget. Kendrick said that Sherwood's pastors gathered for prayer two years ago and asked God to give them an idea for their next movie. "All I can say is we prayed for months and asked for it to honor God."
"It should not be working," said Alex Kendrick, one of the pastors behind the film. Having Kirk Cameron helps, but for it to come out and do 136,000 pieces in its first week is pretty impressive." "You don't often see movies made by churches do big numbers," said Billboard's Anthony Colombo. 3 on Billboard's DVD chart, beating out "The Hulk" and "Saw V," among others. Last week "Fireproof" debuted on DVD and climbed to No. 4 at the box office, eventually bringing in $33.5 million and spawning two books: a novelization, also called "Fireproof," which is in The New York Times' best-seller list's Top 20 and a companion journal to the movie, "The Love Dare," which has sold more than 2 million copies. In fact, the film, "Fireproof," was the church's third movie.
But that's the case for Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia.