South Dakota pastor John Little is a fan of Christian movies, but even he’s generally skeptical when he reads stories about how a particular film is changing peoples’ lives.
But after watching “Fireproof” – and seeing marriages change for the better – he’s a believer.
“I really think Fireproof is the real deal,” the pastor of Rapid Valley Baptist Church in Rapid City told Baptist Press. “I’ve seen it happen.”
The 2008 hit that made $33 million on a $500,000 budget, Fireproof has been released on DVD. Made by staff and volunteers at Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga. – the same congregation that made the 2006 film “Facing the Giants” – Fireproof opened in the Top 5 nationally in total gross receipts, despite playing in fewer than 1,000 theaters, and also finished in the Top 10 its first eight weeks in per-theater average gross receipts.
The DVD release coincides with the release of “The Love Dare” book earlier in January in a leather-like cover. Rolled out as a paperback last fall, the book plays a key role in the movie’s plot.
Although the DVD is being released to the general public, it has been available for purchase by churches – along with a necessary screening license – since late December. Churches must obtain a license before showing it to their congregations. (Licenses can be purchased at Outreach.com).
Fireproof, rated PG, stars Kirk Cameron and Erin Bethea and tells the story of how a firefighter captain works to save his failing marriage. The movie’s Web site has a list of approximately 2,400 testimonies from people, most of whom either have seen their marriage change for the better or witnessed someone else’s marriage improve. It also has a few testimonies from people who are now divorced and regret the movie wasn’t released earlier. (“I only wish it had come out about six years ago, when I got divorced. I honestly believe it could have saved our marriage at that time,” one testimony reads.)
“This movie penetrated the core of what a lot of couples go through and even a lot of single adults go through; they saw in the movie the past mistakes they’ve made in marriages,” Little said.
With assistance from the Dakota Baptist Convention, Little’s church was one of dozens nationwide that brought Fireproof to their respective cities by buying a block of 1,000 tickets. The church publicized the movie in part by having a ticket giveaway on a local Christian station and pop station. The effort was worth it: The movie stayed in the Rapid City Theater for two months – longer than did movies that cost millions to make – and impacted countless marriages in the process.
Just the other day, the church’s ladies prayer group “had a praise report,” Little said, “from a couple who had just about called it quits but now were back together after watching the movie. And they were reading ‘The Love Dare.’?”