Soul Surfer

—the inspirational life story of surfer Bethany Hamilton, the Christian teen who had her left arm bitten off by a tiger shark—again finished in fourth place in its second weekend, grossing an estimated $7.4 million from more than 2,000 theaters, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Heavily marketed to the faith-based community, the movie—which stars AnnaSophia Robb as Bethany; Dennis Quaid as her father, Tom; Helen Hunt as Bethany's mother, Cheri; and Carrie Underwood as church youth leader Sarah Hill—"held its ground better than the other second-weekend holdovers," according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.

Released April 8, Soul Surfer has received mixed mainstream reviews, but an A-plus from CinemaScore's moviegoer polling. The movie "lost a mere 27% of its audience (at the weekend)," the Orlando Sentinel noted. "That has to be word of mouth. Faith based (light on the faith though) or not, it's turned out to be a pretty decent sized hit."

Distributed by Sony Pictures' TriStar label and marketed by the studio's faith-based division Affirm Films and FilmDistrict, Soul Surfer—which had a production budget of $18 million—has made $20 million at the box office so far.

Rated PG for an intense accident sequence and some thematic material, the film is based on Hamilton's Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board (MTV Books), which was sold in some Christian bookstores.

Several Christian-themed products are tied to the movie, including Soul Surfer: Movie Edition (MTV Books) and Devotions for the Soul Surfer (Thomas Nelson). Zondervan has published Rise Above: A 90-Day Devotional, Soul Surfer Bible and Ask Bethany: FAQs: Surfing, Faith and Friends.

Church resource organization Outreach has released four products, including Soul Surfer Church Kit, Soul Surfer DVD Study, Soul Surfer Study Guide and Soul Surfer: Catching God's Wave for Your Life—a nonfiction book for preteens and teens. In June, Regal Books is publishing Raising a Soul Surfer by Cheri Hamilton—the young Hamilton's mother.

Click here for more information on Soul Surfer. No date has been set for the DVD release.

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