God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness

God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Michael Mason
Produced by
Written by Michael Mason
Starring
Music by Pancho Burgos-Goizueta
Cinematography Brian Shanley
Edited by Joseph Sandoval
Production
company
Distributed by Pure Flix Entertainment
Release date
  • March 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
Running time
 106 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $7.3 million[1]

God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness is a 2018 American Christian drama film written and directed by Michael Mason. It is the third installment of the God's Not Dead series, following the 2014 film God's Not Dead and its 2016 sequel. It stars David A. R. White, John Corbett, Shane Harper, Benjamin Onyango, Ted McGinley, Jennifer Taylor, Tatum O'Neal, Shwayze and Cissy Houston.[2]

Principal photography was completed in Little Rock, Arkansas in December 2017. It was released in the United States on March 30, 2018. Unlike the first two films, A Light in Darkness was a box office bomb, making less in its entire theatrical run ($7.3 million) than the others grossed in their respective domestic opening weekends ($9.7 million and $7.6 million).

Plot summary

After Rev. David Hill is released from prison (as seen in the previous film), controversy is sparked against Dave's St. James Church, which is on college campus grounds. This causes the college to start the process of shutting down the church, much to the dismay of Dave and his partner Jude. When informed of the decision to shut down the church and to replace it with a building to expand the school, Dave and Jude begin the process of suing the college to save St. James. Things get worse when college student Adam Richertson, in protest, tosses a brick into the church, igniting a fire that kills Jude and nearly destroys the church. Dave is forced to come to grips with the loss of these events. Adam is horrified by his actions and contemplates whether to confess to the crime, leading him to reconnect with his skeptical girlfriend, Keaton.

During the lawsuit against the church, Dave seeks the help of his estranged brother, attorney Pearce Hill, who tries to explain to Dave that it is not a case worth fighting for. Dave refuses to listen to his brother's advice and continues the case into court. After failing to reach a settlement with the college, the trial date is set for the lawsuit. At the same time, Adam sends an anonymous text to Dave, confessing to the church fire, causing a furious Dave to assault him when confronting him. This severely wounds his lawsuit's case and leads to Adam being arrested and charged as a felony case.

After seeking God's help in church through prayer, Dave eventually realizes that his case has only made things worse and that St. James is not the right church for God and his followers. He drops his lawsuit, reaches an out-of-court settlement with the college, and after talking with a repentant Adam and consulting with Jude's family, ultimately asks to have the criminal charges against Adam dropped. He then announces to his college protesters that while St. James will be torn down, he will reopen a new church not far from the school for future followers.

Cast

Production

Principal photography took place in December 2017 around Little Rock, Arkansas.[3]

Reception

Box office

In the United States and Canada, God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness was released on March 30, 2018, alongside Acrimony and Ready Player One, and was projected to gross $4–6 million from 1,685 theaters in its opening weekend.[4] It ended up debuting to just $2.6 million, finishing 12th at the box office and marking the lowest opening of the series. Deadline Hollywood noted the film suffered from being the third film of a trilogy and also said religious audiences saw the film as "a cash grab and not a movie promoting a Christian message anymore", and were more inclined to go to other faith-based films in theaters like I Can Only Imagine and Paul, Apostle of Christ.[5] It fell 58% in its second weekend to $1.1 million, finishing 17th.[6] By the end of its North American run the film grossed a total of $5.5 million, less than other two films grossed simply in their opening weekends ($9.7 million and $7.6 million, respectively).[7]

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 13% based on 15 reviews, and an average rating of 3.2/10.[8] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 33 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[9] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale,[10] though as with the second film, Deadline Hollywood noted that "faith-based films have an easy time gaining an A on CinemaScore".[11]

References

  1. ↑ "God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness (2018)". The Numbers. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  2. ↑ Truitt, Brian (December 19, 2017). "Watch the fiery trailer for the faith-based film 'God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness'". USA Today. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Pure Flix Announces Theatrical Release Date For GOD'S NOT DEAD: A LIGHT IN DARKNESS" (Press release). Pure Flix. PR Newswire. December 19, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  4. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony; Tartaglione, Nancy (March 27, 2018). "Steven Spielberg's 'Ready Player One' To Get Its Game On With $140M+ Global Start". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  5. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 1, 2018). "Audiences Plug Into 'Ready Player One': Steven Spielberg Movie Looking At $53M+ 4-Day Score – Early Sunday Update". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  6. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 8, 2018). "'A Quiet Place' Screams To $50M+ Opening; 'Blockers' Breaks Through To $21M+ – Early Sunday Update". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  7. ↑ "God's Not Dead Movies at the Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  8. ↑ "God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  9. ↑ "God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  10. ↑ Brad Brevet (March 31, 2018). "'Ready Player One' Hopes to End March 2018 with a Bang, Not a Whimper". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  11. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 4, 2016). "Batman V Superman's Knock-Down, Drag-Out Fight with the Box Office: 2nd Weekend At $52M+, -68%". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
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