Is this a trend? The new normal?
Mill Creek Entertainment announced this past week that director Kevin Peeples’ Dove Awards Family Approved film release of Lifemark will be arriving in the home entertainment packaged media marketplace on Dec. 13 as both DVD and Blu-ray product offerings.
Why a trend? It was reported here — in the DVD & Blu-ray Release Report — a couple of weeks ago that Screen Media’s Jeepers Creepers: Reborn was a Fathom Events theatrical release, eschewing the direct-to-streaming trend that is the all-consuming movie-viewing thing these days.
A traditional “Hollywood” studio might look at a film for their various streaming platforms, and unless it is a Tom Cruise production — he dictates how his films will be released — or a super-hero colossus (mega-bucks budget) or a film like Paramount’s Smile, where test-screenings were off-the-charts, films that don’t meet these criteria are just fodder for their platforms … unknown, unheard-of and un-promoted.
The Kendrick Brothers production company, who honor the spirit and the teachings of Jesus, have a track record for delivering quality faith-based entertainment — Courageous, War Room, Fireproof, etc. — and they could have easily taken their latest film, Lifemark, and dealt it to one of the studios for a direct-to-streaming release. Easy money.
Instead, they bypassed the traditional studio theatrical network and did the same thing that Screen Media did with Jeepers Creepers: Reborn … Lifemark was given a national Fathom Events launch in just over 1,500 theatres beginning on Sept. 9.
One-night events … three-day events … Lifemark was so popular with audiences — who are hungry for quality, life-affirming entertainment — that the initial run was for a full week. Some theatres held the film for over five weeks … a Fathom Events release that runs in some venues for five weeks, that’s amazing!
The film pulled in an astounding $5.2 million during its Fathom Event theatrical run and now it makes the transition to the home entertainment packaged media marketplace with an ARR of 95 days.
What is the story that drove audiences to theatres without studio-backing?
Based on a true-life story, we meet David Colton (Raphael Ruggero in his feature film debut), an 18-year living with adoring parents (played by Kirk Cameron and Rebecca Rogers). One day he receives a message from a woman named Melissa (Dawn Long as the adult, Marisa Lynae Hampton as the younger version), who, as it turns out, is his birth mother.
Blended with a series of flashbacks, David embarks upon a soul-searching path of discovery. Not only do we learn of how Melissa and her boyfriend Brian (Lowrey Brown) were at an abortion clinic, when at the last moment she suddenly changes her mind and decides to give birth to the child. The baby boy is then put for adoption … the Coltons are lucky ones.
As the story unfolds, David, with the encouragement of his adoptive parents, learns how this one event has touched so many people during his life. A powerful, life-affirming journey … redemptive.
Lifemark on DVD and Blu-ray from Mill Creek Entertainment on Dec. 13 … a word to the wise, have Kleenex handy.
Bonus features include deleted scenes, a blooper reel and seven production featurettes — “The Heart of Lifemark,” “Lifemark Panel Discussion,” “The Making of Lifemark,” “The Power of Adoption,” “Meet the Real People,” “The Beauty of Redemption” and “The Gift of Elijah.”
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