Opening on the same weekend as the violence-strewn blockbuster, The Hunger Games, the anti-abortion drama, October Baby, scored the second highest per screen average at the box office, raking in nearly $2 million in ticket sales.
“I was shattered when I first learned about the story. I was moved and mesmerized. I wasn’t an activist, I was just someone who was shattered by the truth,” director Jon Erwin told FOX411’s Pop Tarts. “Here is our little film, small budget, in the top ten (at the box office). We are thrilled, blown away.”
Produced by two brothers, Jon and Andrew Erwin, October Baby stars Rachel Hendrix as Hannah, a woman whose collapse on stage leads her on an incredible journey of self-discovery where she learns that she survived an abortion attempt and was given up for adoption.
As is the case with most films that portray the truth about abortion, the film was rejected by every studio.
“This film couldn’t find a home, no studio wanted to touch it. It was considered too controversial,” Erwin continued. “There was a real moment of despair at one point, the film wasn’t finished and nobody would take a look at it. But every time we screened it, it attracted such intense emotional reactions. So we had to raise the money ourselves, and the release process took much longer than we wanted.”
Dr. Ted Baehr, founder of the Christian movie site Movieguide.org, told Fox the success of “October Baby” can be attributed to a strong Christian and moral world view that touched the hearts of those who saw it. He says it’s important for more audiences to have the chance to see it, too.
“All who see it should be transformed, so considering the importance of the message, everyone should see it,” he said. “It needs more theatrical exposure.”
The film is already drawing a following. Communities who have not been able to get the film forming “action squads” in which Christian schools, churches and citizens are banding together and agreeing to buy a certain number of tickets in order to cover the cost of bringing the movie into their local theaters.
The Erwins are planning for a wider release next month.
“We don’t have the deep pockets and resources that big studios have,” Erwin said. “So we have to take the long approach. But people are really getting behind this and rallying. People identify with it, that’s why the film worked.”
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