A new biblical movie has made history a second time this year.
“His Only Son,” a movie about Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac, received the first-ever Torch Award for Film this month.
Angel Studios, the film’s distributor, awarded the film at the company’s annual “Illuminate” event, which took place in Provo, Utah, on May 11.
The studio is perhaps most famously known for its hit Christian series “The Chosen.”
Since the award’s inception in 2022, it was originally given to series productions. But because of the movie’s unusual success, Angel Studios created a new award category for films.
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Congratulations to the brilliant team behind “His Only Son,” a movie so successful we created a brand new award category! “His Only Son” reached #3 in the box office its first weekend. Learn more about the film at https://t.co/obBlKp40Hi!#angelstudios #amplifylight #hisonlyson pic.twitter.com/zFgCxHjTOQ
— Angel Studios (@AngelStudiosInc) May 17, 2023
Director David Helling told Washington Examiner he was surprised by the award.
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“I didn’t expect it. We praise the Lord for what he has put together with Angel Studios,” Helling said.
During its opening weekend in March, “His Only Son” grossed $5.5 million, premiering in fewer than 2,000 theaters nationwide, according to Washington Examiner.
What makes its success even more impressive is that, according to Variety, the film was made on a $250,000 budget.
Released by the new label Angel Studios, the faith-based drama #HisOnlySon placed fourth on domestic box office charts for the weekend. The movie opened to $5 million, which is impressive since it cost only $250,000 to make. https://t.co/JzTOscqSMw pic.twitter.com/ybhwuffjX6
— Variety (@Variety) April 2, 2023
“That’s exciting, just to know that this little film that was so humbly made on such a humble budget, that the Lord is just multiplying it out internationally, and that the Gospel impact will continue on for generations,” Helling said.
“His Only Son” made enough to payback it’s 2,024 crowdfunding investors, who are the reason the film made history the first time earlier this year.
According to Washington Examiner, the movie was the first crowdfunded theatrical production to be released nationwide.
Neal Harmon, CEO and co-founder of Angel Studios, told the Washington Examiner in March that the movie reached crowdfunding capacity quickly.
“Crowdfunding for His Only Son reached capacity in 100 hours. We are responding to the demand from the audience by at least tripling the theater count nationwide and throwing our most valuable marketing resources behind the film,” Harmon said.
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According to Helling, the film continues to be released in international markets, such as South Korea, Brazil and Latin America.
Helling said that a future film about the life of Isaac’s son, Jacob, is likely.
“By God’s grace, I think we’re going to do another one about the life of Jacob,” Helling said. “We’ll see what the Lord keeps doing with it.”
