Pro-life drama October Baby posted another strong showing in its second week at the box office. Released March 23, it claimed the No. 2 spot for films showing in fewer than 500 theaters and ranked seventh in per-screen average for the top 20 films, despite only showing in 387 theaters.
“People don’t leave the theater arguing their views on abortion,” said Andy Erwin, who directed the film with his brother, Jon. “But it does open conversations that are spilling into the lobbies and parking lots of theaters, and we’re hearing that those conversations are meaningful to people.”
Distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films and Provident Films, October Baby claimed the No. 8 spot at the box office (No. 1 in limited release) its opening weekend against competition that included the record-setting The Hunger Games, which opened in 10 times as many theaters.
Goldwyn and Provident plan to hold the theater count steady until Easter, then expand April 13, possibly to 150 additional theaters. For the film’s opening weekend, groups in 70 communities purchased enough advance tickets to guarantee local showings, and groups can still go to OctoberBabyMovie.net for details on how to bring the movie to their local theater.
Rated PG-13, the movie stars John Schneider (Smallville, Dukes of Hazzard), Jasmine Guy (A Different World) and newcomers Rachel Hendrix and Jason Burkey. It tells the story of 19-year-old Hannah, who discovers she’s adopted and is the survivor of an attempted abortion. With friends, she sets out to find her birth mother and ultimately finds the power of forgiveness.
Producers have assigned 10 percent of the film’s profits to the Every Life Is Beautiful fund, from which the money will be distributed to organizations helping women face crisis pregnancies and to adoption agencies and agencies caring for orphans.
