Roadside Attractions-Lionsgate’s faith-based I Can Only Imagine scored at the domestic box office with a surprisingly strong $17.1 million at 1,629 locations.
Estimates for the film had been in the $2 million-$8 million range. It impressed with its per-site average among this weekend’s wide release movies with $10,476, and received an A+ CinemaScore from patrons.
The distributor began to get a sense in recent weeks that “I Can Only Imagine” would over-perform, due to $1.6 million in pre-sales and 130 million trailer views.
Budgeted at just $7 million, I Can Only Imagine tells the story of Bart Millard, the leader of Christian rock group MercyMe, and his conception of “I Can Only Imagine,” the best-selling Christian single of all time.
J. Michael Finley stars as Millard with Dennis Quaid as his father in the film from directors Andrew Erwin and Jon Erwin, who helmed 2015’s “Woodlawn” and 2014 “Mom’s Night Out.”