Roadside Attractions' indie film A Great Awakening landed at No. 6 on the domestic box office chart with $2.1 million from 1,289 screens. Produced by Sight & Sound to mark America's 250th anniversary, the movie explores the friendship between Benjamin Franklin and preacher George Whitefield.
A Great Awakening stars John Paul Sneed as Benjamin Franklin and Jonathan Blair as George Whitefield. Joshua Enck directed and co-wrote the film, which examines how Franklin's encounter with faith influenced history. Roadside Attractions released the picture in partnership with Sight & Sound producers for the first time. Howard Cohen, co-president of Roadside Attractions, said, “We are very excited about Roadside’s first partnership with producers Sight & Sound on A Great Awakening. The film showed in our exit polls that it brought in both faith-based viewers and history buffs.” The audience awarded it an A+ CinemaScore, suggesting strong word-of-mouth potential. Demographics included 79% aged 35 and older, 57% female, with 66% drawn by the subject matter. Top markets were Harrisburg/Lancaster/York in Pennsylvania, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., New York, Houston, Phoenix, Minneapolis and Atlanta. Leading theaters featured Penn Cinema in Lititz PA, Regal Manor in Lancaster PA and others across states like Ohio, Missouri, California, Texas, Oklahoma and Virginia.
