These Two Brothers Are the Hottest New Movie Moguls in Hollywood
The No. 2 movie in America, War Room, had a budget of only $3.5 million, but made more than triple that in its opening weekend.
Second only to Straight Outta Compton, the faith-based film about a crumbling marriage made $11 million its first weekend out, and it's helping turn two brothers into the unlikeliest movie moguls.
Stephen and Alex Kendrick, the film's writers and producers, spoke with ET's Kevin Frazier in Atlanta about how they're beating the odds by keeping the faith.
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"We've been praying for two years for this film," Stephen told ET. "We were just on a prayer call in the airport a few minutes ago with our whole team, and we believe that what is happening with War Room is a huge answer to prayer."
In the film, a couple struggling to stay together is encouraged to establish a war room, where they can battle their issues through prayer.
Despite the lack of critical praise (Rotten Tomatoes has given it a 36 percent rating), the movie prevails with audiences. The reason why is simple, Stephen says.
"We didn't make this movie for [critics]," he said with a grin. "We expect that. We actually laugh at what the critics say. I've got a file on my computer where I keep some of the worst things they say about it."
And while their names might not ring a bell, they're no spring chickens when it comes to filmmaking. War Room is their fifth film.
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"We thought, you know, two white guys from South Georgia, can we write a movie with an African-American cast and it be accepted," said Alex, who also directs the film. "I think too many people resonate with what this movie's about, and this cast was amazing. To see it on the screen, I don't think we could've told it as powerfully another way."
With all their success, it's been a challenge deciding what project to tackle next, but they're not worried. They're leaving it up to prayer.