Angel Studios has done it again.
After winning over the heartland with the 2023 trafficking thriller Sound of Freedom which posted a 3-day of $19.6M (and a six-day start of $41.6M), the faith-based media company posted its best opening for a live-action feature with Jon Erwin’s historical period pic, Young Washington, which conquered its $15M forecast with a $20.8M opening.
Director, producer and co-writer Jon Erwin (I Can Only Imagine) hit social to announce that a Revolutionary War follow-up, 1776, is already in the works.
Young Washington among all of Angels Studios’ domestic openings, ranks second behind last December’s animated title David ($22M).
At a time when few distributors are making movies for the middle of the U.S. post Warner Bros’ 2014 mammoth American Sniper ($350M domestic), indie distributors like Angel Studios are picking up the slack; Sound of Freedom finaling at $184.1M stateside. Young Washington played big in the Mountain, Midwest, Southcentral, and South regions which drove 67% of the pic’s weekend take. And that’s without premium large format screens. The top grossing theater wasn’t the AMC Burbank in LA or AMC Lincoln Center in NYC, which is what we typically see on any big grossing movie, rather The Megaplex 18 Thanksgiving Point in Utah which collected $111K to date. On July 4th, Young Washington was No. 2 at the domestic B.O. with $7.6M behind Minions & Monsters‘ $9.4M.
The over 55 crowd showed up at a big 47% to Young Washington — remarkable, as that demographic has been even slower to trickle out post Covid. Overall CinemaScore was an A and a great 81% definite recommend on Screen Engine/Rentrak’s PostTrak.
In the movie, William Franklyn-Miller plays the Father of Our Country with Ben Kingsley, Andy Serkis, Mary-Louise Parker and Kelsey Grammer co-starring.
Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt after seeing a screening, rounded up his fans on social, ordering them to “get off your ass and run to the movie theater, I’ve just seen Young Washington…it’s like The Revenant, it’s like Pride and Prejudice, it’s like Braveheart…”
Brandon Purdie, EVP of Theatrical at Angel, said in a statement this AM, “Seeing audiences across the country embrace Young Washington during our nation’s 250th anniversary celebration has been incredibly meaningful. This milestone is a testament to the power of great storytelling and to our outstanding partners at Wonder Project and 2521 Entertainment, who helped bring this remarkable film to life. We’re grateful to exhibitors nationwide, to every Angel Guild member, and to every moviegoer who chose to experience Young Washington together in theaters this holiday weekend.”
“The American experiment is one of the greatest origin stories in history, and George Washington’s journey through failure, perseverance, and sacrifice forged the leader who would help shape a nation,” said Erwin who is also the Chief Creative Officer of the pic’s production company, Wonder Project. “To share that journey with audiences alongside Angel as our nation marks its 250th anniversary has been one of the greatest honors of my career. My hope is that this is the beginning of many extraordinary American stories told through film and television.”
By the way, colonial has popped off cannons before at the B.O.: Remember the 2000 Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger action pic The Patriot from Roland Emmerich? That posted a 3-day of $22.4M, and a 7-day opening of $44.5M over the July 4th stretch, ending its run at $113.3M in North America.