After an honest heart cry to share the gospel with people through film over a decade ago, creator David Helling’s ‘His Only Son’ took number three at the box office ahead of Easter.
In an exclusive interview with Charisma News, Helling shared his journey from military man and film student to creator of a major film. ‘His Only Son,’ focuses on the three-day journey Abraham took to Moriah to sacrifice his son, Isaac, after hearing God’s command to do so. The film features Abraham’s harrowing emotions of being asked to give up his son, with poignant flashbacks of Abraham and Sarah’s life together.
“This was my heart cry a decade and a half ago in one of Saddam Hussein’s old missile bunkers in Iraq, and to have that heart cry be out of the mouths of many people in all these theaters across the country, it’s just, what a sweet gift from the Lord,” Helling told Charisma News.
The road to the box office was far from easy as Helling spent years working on the film with a very limited budget of around $250,000. In the process he watched a close friend who helped him with the film’s finances pass away from cancer and spent many days by himself working on visual effects along with other elements.
“It felt like I was living under a rock all alone,” Helling told Charisma News. “Going through the darkest years of my life, and it seemed like every single obstacle was keeping the film from getting done and it was just like spiritual warfare.”
However, despite the lonely days and the long search for distributors, Helling was finally granted a major blessing with a mutual connection to Angel Studios, which is best-known for their series “The Chosen.” Helling’s co-executive producers had come across the VP of global distributions at Angel where an opportunity arose for them to share ‘His Only Son.’
“Showed him the trailer for ‘His Only Son,’ and he was, like, super interested. He showed it to everyone at Angel and they said, ‘Can we see a screener for this?’ And then you look to see the way that it’s just blown up since then,” Helling said. “His hand’s been on every step of the way, so it really is the way the Lord works.”
For Helling, the experience of seeing His dream take off and become more than he ever imagined has been a breath-taking experience. He has gone to the theaters and seen people’s reactions, many deeply touched by Abraham’s story on the big screen.
“This weekend I still don’t even know what to make of this box office numbers…it’s like ‘who am I, Lord, that I got to steward this for so long?'”
The film is out in theaters across America, and in true Angel Studios style, there is the opportunity to pay it forward for someone else to go to the theater and watch the movie for free. You can click here to find a theater near you.
Abby Trivett is a marketing copywriter and coordinator and Staff Writer intern for Charisma Media.
