By Will Hall, Message Editor
The pro-life movie “Unplanned,” based on the true story of former Planned Parenthood clinic director Abby Johnson, who quit the organization in 2009 after witnessing an abortion at 13 weeks, has exceeded critics’ expectations.
The film ranked fourth in money made during its opening weekend (behind “Dumbo,” “Us,” and “Captain Marvel”) and remained in the top 10 after its second week-end in theaters, grossing more than $16 million, so far, while costing only $6 million to make, reported BoxOfficeMojo.com.
The hit movie overcame the obstacles of an R rating by the Motion Picture Association of America (de-spite no profanity, nudity or immodesty) and having its ads banned on major television channels as well as a temporary ban by one of the largest Christian radio networks – until fans objected.
Only Fox News and the Christian Broadcast Net-work aired television commercials for Unplanned. Meanwhile, K-LOVE, which says its mission is to encourage a meaningful relationship with Christ, had to backtrack from its position of not promoting anything “political” after a severe backlash from listeners, according to The Blaze.
Twitter also piled on with an “accidental” suspension of the movie’s account, which prevented even the lead actress, Ashley Bratcher, from following her own movie.
However, one Twitter user managed to reach 7.32 million people with his endorsement.
Vice President Mike Pence called “Unplanned” a “deeply inspiring new pro-life film” and said, “More and more Americans are embracing the sanctity of life because of powerful stories like this one.”
Faith-based studio Pure Flix, which created “Unplanned” based on the book by the same name, also produced “God’s Not Dead,” “Do You Believe?,” I’m Not Ashamed” and “The Case for Christ.”
My Pillow founder Michael Lindell, a born-again Christian, co-financed “Unplanned.”
