A biopic about Rebecca St. James and her family emerging as a force in contemporary Christian music took the second spot at the box office this past weekend.
Inspirational drama Unsung Hero grossed over $7.7 million on its opening weekend at the theatres. The movie beat out Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, while an R-rated film featuring Zendaya titled Challengers took the number one spot.
The movie portrays the difficulties that the family of nine — David and Helen Smallbone, and their seven children — faced while uprooting themselves from Australia to the U.S.
St. James, whose last name is a performance moniker, was 16 at the time her major-label debut album released in 1994. Her brothers, Joel and Luke Smallbone, later formed popular Christian music group, For King & Country, and produced Unsung Hero.
The film, which opened April 26 on over 2,800 theatres across North America, “landed ahead of expectations after earning a coveted A+ CinemaScore,” stated The Hollywood Reporter. Unsung Hero earned more than its $6 million production budget during its opening weekend.
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Congratulations to co-directors Joel Smallbone and Richard Ramsey on this A+ CinemaScore. We are thrilled to see audiences everywhere connect with this story. Thank you 🙏🏻 to everyone who has come out to support @UnsungHeroMovie! Have you seen it yet? Don’t wait! Join us this… pic.twitter.com/SMB6f1XsPF
— Kingdom Story Company (@KingdomStoryCo) April 27, 2024
“We’re on a mission to make mums, miracles and family the number one conversation in North America this weekend,” said For King & Country on social media.
There were many cameos from family members themselves in Unsung Hero, including Rebecca St. James and Luke Smallbone. Country and Christian artist Hilary Scott made an appearance and Candace Cameron Bure played a role. Joel Smallbone, co-lead of for King & Country not only helped write and direct the movie, but he also starred as his father in the film.
“They protected us from the gravity of our circumstances, but they didn’t hide the fact that we were struggling,” stated For King & Country on Facebook, referring to their parents, David and Helen Smallbone. “Rather, they invited us to participate in finding a way through together- through prayer, and the small daily ways we could come together as a family to help each other.”
Josh Shepherd contributed to this article, which was originally published at CHVN Radio.
Sylvia St. Cyr is an on-air radio host at CHVN, a Christian outlet in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
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2 Responses
Harness the power of testimonies!!!!
We went tonight and enjoyed this movie. They did a great job telling the story of trusting God in the hard. It’s a beautiful story of faith in Jesus. <3