A few weeks ago I shared with you my enthusiasm for a new movie based on a terrific book by author David L. Cook, Seven Days in Utopia. The film stars Academy Award winner Robert Duvall and highlights the critical contribution mentors can make in a person’s life.
As a follow-up to the production’s nationwide release, a colleague just received the following note from one of the movie’s senior executives. It is good news:
I just wanted to send this quick message out to all my friends and partners that helped us with the launch of Seven Days In Utopia. The movie opened modestly on Friday and went up Saturday, then jumped significantly Sunday and then was up again Monday (Labor Day)! Movies never do that, and as we were researching, we went back to 2007 and couldn’t find one movie that went UP on Labor Day! Add to that, the fact that more than 250,000 people have visited the “Did He Make The Putt” website to find out the answer to the “cliffhanger”–in the first four days! And the best part of all, more than 600 people decided to go all the way with Christ and commit their lives to Him! And that’s just the opening weekend!
The legendary writer William Faulkner once described Hollywood as “a place where a man can get stabbed in the back while climbing a ladder.” Fortunately, the makers of Seven Days in Utopia have found out that good guys with a positive and redeeming message can make it, and successfully so, within an otherwise cut-throat industry. In fact, such an overwhelmingly positive response to a “G-rated” film is proof-positive, I believe, that there’s a strong market for well-done, wholesome family entertainment.
Here’s hoping that movie industry executives are paying attention and that they’ll be motivated to follow suit.
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