'Courageous' hits No. 1 in nationwide DVD sales

Baptist Press

Jan 27, 2012 6:22 PM Jan 27, 2012

Opinion

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HOLLYWOOD (BP) -- The church-made film "Courageous" is once again surprising the pundits thanks to strong DVD sales that have made it the No. 1-selling DVD nationwide.

Made by Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga., Courageous was the top-selling DVD for the week ending Jan. 22, according to Nielsen. With a budget of only $1 million -- pennies by Hollywood standards -- Courageous bested several movies with much larger budgets: No. 2. "Ides of March" ($37 million budget), No. 3 "Abduction" ($35 million) and No. 4 "Moneyball" ($50 million).

The Courageous DVD, released Jan. 17, includes more than two hours of special features, including deleted scenes, a "making of Courageous" segment and Courageous bloopers. It also was released on Blu-ray. It was the top-grossing box office new film on its opening weekend and also was No. 1 in per-theater average.

Each film by Sherwood Baptist has grossed more than its predecessor. The church -- which gets only a portion of the total gross -- also made Fireproof (2008) and Facing the Giants (2006). Courageous grossed $34.3 million.

The movie follows the story of five men -- four of them police officers -- as they strive to become better fathers.

Compiled by Michael Foust, associate editor of Baptist Press.