“Run the Race,” a faith-based film which has former NFL quarterback and outspoken Christian Tim Tebow attached as executive producer, scored an impressive box office debut on an otherwise quiet Oscar weekend.
Released by Roadside Attractions on 853 screens, “Run the Race” grossed $2.27 million for a per-screen average of $2,664 and the No. 10 spot on the box office charts.
For comparison, the last faith-based film that opened with a similar screen count was Pure Flix’s “Indivisible,” which opened to $1.5 million from 830 screens last October with a PSA of $1,811.
Directed and co-written by Chris Dowling, “Run the Race” follows two orphaned teen brothers trying to find a better life after their mother’s death and father’s abandonment. When one of the brothers sees his hopes for a football scholarship dashed after a terrible injury, the other trains on the track team to finish their dream.
Elsewhere in the indie box office, Magnolia and Shorts.TV’s annual presentation of the Oscar-nominated short films crossed the $3 million mark in total grosses this weekend. Expanding to 410 screens for Oscar weekend, the live-action, animated and documentary shorts combined for an estimated $598,000 this weekend, bringing it to a total of $3.2 million.
On the Bollywood import front, the adventure-comedy “Total Dhamaal” opened on 202 screens in the U.S. this weekend, grossing $946,000 for a PSA of $4,681. Directed by Indra Kumar, the film follows a madcap race between five pairs of people in search of a stolen treasure that might not even exist.
Meanwhile, the Indian rap film “Gully Boy” expanded to 270 screens in its second weekend and added $1 million, bringing its total to $3.7 million.