Top-10 Debut Weekend for "The Jesus Music"

This documentary from the Erwin Brothers delivers strong revenue numbers and moviegoer response in a limited release opening.

Kirk Franklin performs in concert in a scene from "The Jesus Music." Image: Kingdom Story Company/Lionsgate.

Despite playing in just 249 theaters, The Jesus Music claimed 10th place at the box office over the weekend, bringing in almost $550,000 from Friday through Sunday in preliminary numbers from Box Office Mojo. And though that figure may not seem so impressive, the film from directors Andrew Erwin and John Erwin delivered the fourth highest per-theater revenue among the top films, delivering an average of $2,204 a venue, which is an impressive figure indeed.

"The Jesus Music" earned an "A" rating from moviegoers. Image: CinemaScore/Instagram.

There's another indicator from market research firm CinemaScore that audiences loved the film. Moviegoers surveyed after watching it on opening night gave the picture an "A," making it the highest rated new release of the weekend, better than big-budget fare like The Addams Family 2 and the second picture in the Venom franchise.

This documentary tells the story of contemporary Christian music from its humble beginnings in the late 1960s through its phenomenal development into the billion-dollar industry it has become. Executive produced by top stars Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith, it is told through the eyes of them and fellow Christian artists such as Steven Curtis Chapman, For King & Country, Kirk Franklin, Mercy Me and Lauren Daigle.