A pro-life film has pulled in more than $6 million in its opening weekend, despite efforts to downplay it.
‘Unplanned’ tells the story of Abby Johnson, a Planned Parenthood clinic director who became a pro-life activist after witnessing a 13-week abortion.
Three days after the film’s release, its official Twitter account was “suspended without cause”.
Blocked
Earlier this year, ‘Unplanned’ also received restrictive rating from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which producers unsuccessfully fought to overturn.
Despite this, the pro-life film at one point reached fourth place in the US Box Office last weekend. It was the second-biggest success for distributor Pure Flix, which also produced ‘God’s Not Dead’.
Lila Rose, from pro-life group Live Action, tweeted: “Most TV networks rejected ads for the film. Most media groups wouldn’t report on it. MPAA gave it an ‘R’ rating.”
Yet despite “being in only 1/4th of theatres, @UnplannedMovie closed opening weekend in the top 5 nationwide!”
Enormous support
Vice President Mike Pence called it “a deeply inspiring new pro-life film”.
Co-directors Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman said: “We are thrilled, gratified and humbled.”
“We are so pleased that the American people have responded with such an enormous outpouring of support at the box office.”
And Pure Flix CEO Michael Scott, said: “To bring the story of Abby Johnson to audiences and have them show up in such large numbers shows how abortion is so important to bring to audiences”.
“We hope that those on both sides of the debate will see Unplanned and begin to have their own dialogue. This film can be that spark to bring more hearts and minds to understanding the value of life.”