"Unsung Hero" Delivers at the Box Office on its Debut Weekend

The faith-based film also earns a rare top rating from opening-night moviegoers.

Co-director and lead actor Joel Smallbone (right) reviews the script with fellow actors Lucas Black and Candace Cameron Bure during production of "Unsung Hero." Image: Kingdom Story Company/Lionsgate.

Filmmakers behind Unsung Hero must be thrilled with their start in theaters, having claimed second place at the box office from Friday through Sunday. The picture from the Christian producer team of Andrew and Jon Erwin and their Kingdom Story Company brought in more than $7.7 million in its first weekend on the silver screen, according to The Numbers website.

"Unsung Hero" earned an A+ rating from opening-night audiences. Image: CinemaScore.

The movie tells the coming-to-America story of the Smallbone family, which gave us Christian music stars Rebecca St. James and For King & Country. That latter act consists of the brother duo of Luke and Joel Smallbone, who were both still children when they emigrated from Australia in 1991 and settled in Nashville, Tennessee.

The film - co-written and co-directed by Joel, who also plays his father's character - not only performed well financially, but it garnered the highest-level of support from viewers, according to CinemaScore. That company surveys opening-night movie audiences for all major theatrical releases and assigns a letter grade based on their responses. Unsung Hero earned an A+, which is a grade rarely given out.