Dietrich Bonhoeffer is the martyr of the Post-War Consensus and 20th-century liberalism’s syncretism with the church. Despite being a theological liberal who denied the Apostle’s Creed, Bonhoeffer has become more myth than man. Indeed he was not a liberal pastor on the outskirts of a liberal German denomination. He was a pastor, spy, and an assassin. In a culture that has made Adolf Hitler the seminal historical evil, Bonhoeffer emerged as a mythical hero despite his less-than-pure motives for opposing the Third Reich. And so a (new) movie was made about his life and distributed by Angel Studios, the Mormon-owned film distribution and streaming platform.
By The Numbers
Evangelicalism has been inundated with the message that Bonhoeffer and MLK were positive examples of Christian political activism. So with high name recognition, I had though this movie was poised to be something of a box office success. But far be it from the case.
| Date | DOW | Rank | Daily | %± YD | %± LW | Theaters | Avg | To Date | Day |
| 22-Nov | Fri | 4 | $2,642,007 | – | – | 1,900 | $1,390 | $2,642,007 | 1 |
| 23-Nov | Sat | 6 | $1,374,735 | -48% | – | 1,900 | $723 | $4,016,742 | 2 |
| 24-Nov | Sun | 6 | $1,031,233 | -25% | – | 1,900 | $542 | $5,047,975 | 3 |
| 25-Nov | Mon | 5 | $580,401 | -43.7% | – | 1,900 | $305 | $5,628,376 | 4 |
| 26-Nov | Tue | 5 | $644,222 | 11% | – | 1,900 | $339 | $6,272,598 | 5 |
| 27-Nov | Wed | 6 | $511,846 | -21% | – | 1,900 | $269 | $6,784,444 | 6 |
| 28-Nov | Thu | 6 | $561,113 | 9.6% | – | 1,900 | $295 | $7,345,557 | 7 |
| 29-Nov | Fri | 6 | $918,049 | 63.6% | -65.3% | 1,800 | $510 | $8,263,606 | 8 |
| 30-Nov | Sat | 7 | $825,450 | -10.1% | -40% | 1,800 | $458 | $9,089,056 | 9 |
| 1-Dec | Sun | 6 | $556,668 | -32.6% | -46% | 1,800 | $309 | $9,645,724 | 10 |
| 2-Dec | Mon | 5 | $246,296 | -55.8% | -57.6% | 1,800 | $136 | $9,892,020 | 11 |
| 3-Dec | Tue | 5 | $355,579 | 44.4% | -44.8% | 1,800 | $197 | $10,247,599 | 12 |
| 4-Dec | Wed | 5 | $251,582 | -29.2% | -50.8% | 1,800 | $139 | $10,499,181 | 13 |
| 5-Dec | Thu | 7 | $194,649 | -22.6% | -65.3% | 1,800 | $108 | $10,693,830 | 14 |
| 6-Dec | Fri | 14 | $168,023 | -13.7% | -81.7% | 945 | $177 | $10,861,853 | 15 |
| 7-Dec | Sat | 14 | $228,557 | 36% | -72.3% | 945 | $241 | $11,090,410 | 16 |
| 8-Dec | Sun | 15 | $165,943 | -27.4% | -70.2% | 945 | $175 | $11,256,353 | 17 |
Numbers: Box Office Mojo
After 17 days, the film has only just surpassed $11 million, despite an active campaign to pay it forward with tickets, a stunt that Angel Studios uses to inflate the box office numbers.
Angel Studio subscribers are entitled to 2 movie tickets, so it’s unclear how much of this was Angel Studio giveaways.
Meanwhile, Bonhoeffer appears to have had a budget of $25 million, according to a poorly worded bio of an executive producer. This number does not include marketing which Angel Studios seems to take ownership of with the films it distributes. Between recouping the cost of production and marketing, splitting with the theaters, and splitting with the Angel Studios, Bonhoeffer is nowhere close to being a profitable movie.
Angel Studios To Blame?
It was definitely true back in the day that timing is one of the most critical factors of a film’s performance. In Bonhoeffer’s case, it went up against Gladiator II and Wicked. Gladiator II, being a historical drama was similar enough in genre and a much bigger draw. And subsequently, Moana 2 came out. Angel Studios did not stand a chance to compete with these movies, and its decision to push for a Thanksgiving release might have cost the movie millions of dollars than if it debuted at a less competitive time.
Angel Studios pushed the movie hard in their Cosnervative Inc. network and probably also Christian media with the help of Eric Metaxas, who devotedly promoted the movie. Angel Studios caught lightning in a bottle with Sound of Freedom and used the success to equity crowdfund itself to an unknown valuation that could be as high as over $2 billion. However, Angel Studios has not repeated this success since. When researching Angel Studios’s releases, I had guessed that of their slate, Bonhoeffer would be in the top 3 through the end of next year with David being their biggest upcoming film. So, I would have thought the film would make around $50 million at the box office. But this was not the case, not even close.
I’ve called into question Angel Studio’s ability to market films, and this performance solidifies these concerns.
Lack of Controversy
This film lacked controversy that could have boosted its performance. Although they had a paid campaign to use “antisemitism” to market the film, the film did not make many headlines for this effort. Perhaps it was not liberal enough for Ed Stetzer to promote it with his media apparatus, but not a meaningful threat to be condemned by the liberal media, because Bonhoeffer is their guy after all. So, this lack of controversy likely hurt the film because it did not drive people to take a stand and see it.
Conclusions
It is a welcomed surprise that a movie lionizing a heretic would flop so hard. It was an unexpected win against the Post-War Consensus and its grip on the church. It may also show that our culture is fatigued by WWII movies, or that people are learning the truth of Bonhoeffer and are exercising discernment.
2 Responses
If only they had spelled it Bonghoffer and had him played by Snoop Dog, they would have pulled in a bigger audience. Angel Studios, guya, hire me, I’ve got lots of cool ideas to help your movies succeed.
I agree. I had a tough time slogging through the book, most especially once I realized that he was basically a very privileged coward who ran and refuged within his own circles as long as he could til they finally caught up with him. Not exactly the kind of hero he was purported to be. No interest whatsoever in seeing the movie.