Charlotte Filmed ‘War Room’ Stuns Hollywood With a $11.4 Million Weekend.

Faith-based ‘War Room’ opened up to 1,135 theaters its first weekend, with reports people were laughing, crying and praying as stunned Hollywood watchers saw the low-budget, Charlotte area film nearly dethrone “Straight Outta Compton” as the weekend’s highest-grossing domestic release with its $11.4 million debut.

The names Alex Kendrick and Stephen Kendrick are likely to be unknown but thanks to low-budget hits like “Fireproof” and “Courageous,” the brothers have transformed themselves into the Steven Spielbergs of Christian cinema. War Room earned an A+ from CinemaScore, making the first film to receive such a rating since American Sniper earlier this year.

Filming in Uptown Charlotte and in Kannapolis, Concord, Hickory and Huntersville, the Kendrick Brothers Productions project spent three months in the area last summer employing a cast of 45 and crew ranging between 85 and 100 people. It drew more than 1,000 volunteers from 85 churches in the Charlotte area.

“We found everything we needed to produce War Room in Charlotte,” said Stephen Kendrick, “the homes, businesses and even our Miss Clara; we’ve been blown away by Charlotte.”

“War Room” focuses on the power of prayer through the eyes of a family that needs it. In the film, Tony and Elizabeth Jordan, seem to have it all — great jobs, a beautiful daughter and their dream home. In reality, they are not as lucky as they appear. The couple’s world is crumbling under the strain of a failing marriage, Tony basks in professional success and flirts with temptation while Elizabeth resigns herself to increasing bitterness.

Their lives take a turn when Elizabeth meets her newest client, Miss Clara, and is challenged to establish a “war room” as well as a battle plan of prayer for her family. As Elizabeth tries to fight for her family, Tony’s hidden struggles come to light — and he must decide if he will make amends to his family and prove that victories don’t come by accident.

The website MovieTickets.com indicated “War Room” was trending No. 1 in ticket sales all weekend, accounting for 20 to 28 percent of all ticket sales over the weekend.

For more information, or to view a trailer or theater listings for “War Room,” visit WarRoomTheMovie.com.

War Room is also on Facebook at Facebook.com/WarRoomMovie.

The film, being distributed by TriStar, is rated PG.

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Although many people are traumatized, only one serious injury has been reported after a gunman was killed by police at Northlake Mall on Christmas Eve, according to WBTV news

Charlotte residents and visitors were picking out their final gifts when witnesses say they heard seven shots fired shortly after 2 p.m.

Police returned fire at the gunman in Journeys shoe store, fatally wounding the man and quickly ending any further violence.

The Charlotte Observer reported that one person is now being treated from a leg injury. A pregnant woman and someone suffering with asthma were also taken to the hospital for monitoring.

John Dawson, a local Charlotte salesman, commented that he was buying a gift for his date when the shooting erupted. He said it began with an argument inside a packed store.

“There was a dude fighting with one or two dudes, and I kind of stopped and looked over there,” Dawson said. One person pulled out a gun and started “shooting everywhere.” He said other shoppers began running when the shots were fired, a nearby police officer then responded by returning fire.

Caryl Santos, a 20-year-old sophomore at East Carolina University, said she was standing in the checkout line at Belk when suddenly people began running toward the exit.

“I had no idea what to do so I grabbed my mom, dropped my stuff and ran out of the store. It was so terrifying,” Santos remarked.

Last Tuesday, the Charlotte Stories team wrote an article and created a petition in response to Gov. Pat McCrory’s letter that he sent to Charlotte on Monday. The letter told the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization to either vote in support of the toll lanes or “set in motion the necessary steps to create a new regional transportation plan.”

We were truly surprised and overwhelmed at the response to our petition, in less than a week, it received over 35,000 views and more than 11,000 signatures.

When our team sat down to finalize and print the entire petition this morning, we ended up with 11,483 total signatures that we printed on 329 pages.

When we delivered it, the planning department told us that it was one of the largest petitions that they had ever received.

The City of Charlotte and the CRTPO now have the key vote for the entire i77 toll lane project, as it’s worth 31 of the 68 total votes needed to continue building the new toll lanes.

The vote will take place at CRTPO’s planned meeting scheduled for Jan. 20th.

Neil Burke, the Senior Principal Planner for the CRTPO, told me that there will be a public hearing immediately before their meeting begins.

If you have additional questions or comments about the upcoming vote, you can email Robert Cook, the CRTPO Secretary here, or call them at (704) 336-2205.

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The Graham family has always had a deep love for the nation of Israel and for all people in crisis, and today, the city of Charlotte witnessed this love in action.

This morning at the Billy Graham Library, The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse held a dedication ceremony for 2 state-of-the-art and fully stocked ambulances that have been donated to a ministry called Heart to Heart Israel. The ministry works with Israel’s front line hospitals to help save countless Jewish, Christian, and Muslim lives throughout a nation of over 8.4 million people.

“The ambulances we are donating will make a big difference in helping to save lives in Israel — one of the most conflict-ridden areas of the world. Our prayer is that by providing these ambulances, lives will be changed both physically and spiritually.” commented Franklin Graham.

“Due to the consistently tumultuous landscape in Israel, there is a continued need for life-saving assistance for the Israeli people and ambulances are the first line of support in the face of physical need. The first responders offer immediate care for everyone from babies, to a tourist suffering a heart attack to a victim of a terrorist act. We are eternally grateful to Rev. Franklin Graham and Samaritan’s Purse for their remarkable gift of two ambulances,” remarked Heart to Heart Israel’s director, Jonathan Feldstein.

Today was truly a historic day in Samaritan’s Purse and BGEA’s 40+ year history of helping victims of tragedy, poverty, and terrorism around the world.

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