‘I Heard the Bells’
Lancaster County-based Sight & Sound Ministries’ first film, “I Heard the Bells,” held steady at the No. 9 position last week. “I Heard the Bells” took in $308,893, according to estimates.
A week before, the film took in $750,713 domestically and played at 973 locations.
The film, which was made in Lancaster County and cast locally, was released at a time when theaters were hungry for new films and when Christian movie-goers were looking for uplifting Christmas fare.
The film about famed 19thcentury American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow tells the tragic and inspirational events that led him to write the poem “Christmas Bells,” which would become the beloved Christ-mas carol “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.”
“I Heard the Bells” grossed $2.77 million at the box office over its four-day debut beginning Dec. 1. Encouraged by its success, its run was extended.
Sight & Sound, the longtime Bible-based stage producer headquartered in Strasburg Township, made the film for roughly $3 million. “Avatar: The Way of Water” cost Disney an estimated $600 million to make and market.