The day before yesterday L.A. Times guy Josh Friedman reported that Fireproof, a Christian drama with Kirk Cameron as a firefighter struggling to save his marriage, “has been No. 1 in advance sales on movie ticketing site Fandango.com with 31% of this week’s business, albeit in a slow marketplace — even outpacing sales for the big-budget popcorn thriller Eagle Eye, starring heartthrob Shia LaBeouf.”

The Fandango numbers, he reported, are due to “grass-roots support and bulk purchases from churchgoers.
“Nobody expects Fireproof, which Samuel Goldwyn Films will open Friday at 800-plus theaters, to replicate the phenomenon of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, which jolted the movie industry by grossing $83.8 million during its first weekend in 2004. Nor will it challenge DreamWorks/Paramount’s Eagle Eye, which is widely expected to be this weekend’s top grossing movie. Indeed, the micro-budget Fireproof production might have a hard time even cracking the top 10 at the box office this weekend.
Basically, Friedman said, it might do business along the lines of Facing the Giants and Omega Code.