Churches across the country are using the Christian movie for outreach.
As we have repeatedly reported, Overcomer is having a great deal of success at the box office, already bringing in nearly $32 million and claiming 20th place in all-time revenue in the Chrisitian genre. And that is in less than five weeks in theatrical release. Now comes word from Stephen Kendrick and Alex Kendrick - the brother team behind the movie - that its impact is much more profound than just those impressive ticket receipts.
In an interview with Movieguide, Stephen says souls are being saved. That, of course, lines up with the former pastors' priorities because they are aiming to be "successful and obedient in God's eyes" first and foremost.
"To hear that 50 people came to Christ in just one screening, and that churches were leveraging (the movie) for the Gospel, to hear people respond online that not only were they entertained by the film, but we see the responses that God spoke deeply to [them] about who (they are) in Christ, it’s everything we hoped would happen in the hearts of believers."
Alex, who directed the film and plays the lead part, credits the movie's success to the amount of prayer that went on behind the scenes from the moment they began developing the project, which he co-wrote with Stephen. Of course, a good script and talented cast and crew certainly help, but he echoes his brother's sentiments about their focus being on the eternal rather than the temporal.
"Our desire is to draw people to a relationship with God and to have them express their faith in Him."
And the Lord is no doubt helping them do just that. The picture's currently playing in 1,818 theaters, having peaked at 2,293 last week, meaning it has run thousands and thousands of times on movie screens all across America, not to mention in the 20-plus overseas locations where it's also showing. If it contributed to the salvation of 50 people at a single screening, imagine how many hearts God has touched altogether since it debuted just over a month ago!