War Room (film)

Pharmaceutical salesman Tony Jordan and his wife, realtor Elizabeth Jordan, appear outwardly successful; they have a large house, plenty of money, and a beautiful daughter named Danielle. Behind the façade, however, Tony and Elizabeth's relationship is strained. Tony is callous, verbally abusive and thinking about cheating on Elizabeth. In addition, because his job requires frequent travel, he is almost never there for his daughter.

Elizabeth goes to work with an elderly woman, Miss Clara, to sell her house. Miss Clara senses the stress Elizabeth is under, and suggests that Elizabeth fight for their marriage by praying for Tony. Miss Clara shows Elizabeth a special closet she has dedicated to praying, which she calls her "War Room"; as she puts it, "in order to stand up and fight the enemy, you need to get on your knees and pray." As Elizabeth starts to seriously pray for her husband, Tony leaves for a business trip, having dinner with a beautiful woman who invites him back to her apartment. Meanwhile in his home, his wife Elizabeth is praying that if Tony is about to make a wrong decision, God to intervene and stop him. Just as he is about to leave the table with her, he becomes nauseous.

Shortly afterward, Tony is fired for fabricating his sales figures; unbeknownst to Elizabeth and Danielle, he has been stealing drug samples and selling them to make even more money. Realizing he has hit rock bottom, Tony rededicates his life to God after finding his wife's prayer closet and reading the prayers about him she has been pinning on the wall. He now realizes that he has to return both the stolen samples and his ill-gotten money, even though revealing what he's done could potentially send him to prison. Tony meets with his former boss and confesses; his former boss is moved by his willingness to admit his wrongdoing and make amends, and decides not to press charges. Tony begins to show an interest in his daughter's jump-roping skills and offers to participate with her and her friends in the upcoming double Dutch competition at the local community center. Tony and his daughter's team takes second place in the competition, creating a new bond between him and his daughter.

Elizabeth successfully sells Miss Clara's house to a retired pastor who realizes someone has been praying in the closet. Shortly afterwards, Tony is offered a job as the director of the community center. Although the pay is only half of what he used to make, he realizes that with the income from this new job combined with Elizabeth picking up some extra work, the family can live less frugal and be happy. Finally, Elizabeth realizes that all her prayers had been answered and she had fought her enemy with prayer. She says that "there's got to be a God in heaven."

• Priscilla Shirer as Elizabeth Jordan
• T.C. Stallings as Tony Jordan, Elizabeth's husband
• Karen Abercrombie as Miss Clara Williams
• Alex Kendrick as Coleman Young{{cite web|url=http://warroomthemovie.com/cast |title=War Room – Cast |publisher=Warroomthemovie.com |access-date=2015-08-27}}
• Michael Jr. as Michael
• Alena Pitts as Danielle Jordan, Elizabeth & Tony's daughter
• Beth Moore as Mandy{{cite web|url=http://www.christianfilmdatabase.com/review/war-room/ |title=War Room: Kendrick Brothers Christian Movie/Film – CFDb |publisher=Christianfilmdatabase.com |date=2015-04-17 |access-date=2015-08-27}}
• Tenae Downing as Veronica Drake
• Ben Davies as Policeman

For this film, Alex and Stephen Kendrick decided to move away from Sherwood Pictures, the church-based film production company which had previously produced their films. In part the brothers left because they felt that the movie-making was distracting from other parts of the church's ministry, with Alex telling The Hollywood Reporter that they felt "We were the elephant in the room."{{cite web|last1=Bond|first1=Paul|title='War Room' Filmmaker: "The God of Hollywood Is Political Correctness" (Q&A)|url=https://hollywoodreporter.com/news/war-room-filmmaker-god-hollywood-823440|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=September 17, 2015 |access-date=18 September 2015}} Instead, the brothers produced the film through FaithStep Films and released it through Sony Pictures. Regarding the title of the film, director Kendrick says "We called it 'War Room{{-'}} because, like the military, we should seek God for the right strategy before going into combat. By combat, I mean daily issues we face in our culture." The brothers got their inspiration from prayer, with Alex stating that he believes even the idea of a war room was given to them by God.{{cite web|last1=Hadley|first1=Alicia|title=Faith-Based "War Room" Promotes Healing Through Fervent Prayer|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/faith-based-war-room-promotes-healing-through-fervent-prayer-n417451|website=NBC News|date=August 28, 2015 |access-date=18 September 2015}}

Principal photography took place over a three-month period during the summer of 2014 in several North Carolina locations, including Charlotte, Kannapolis, Concord, Hickory and Birkdale Village in Huntersville.{{cite news|url=http://www.independenttribune.com/news/cabarrus-filmed-war-room-stuns-hollywood-with-m-opening/article_a3178030-4ff4-11e5-a47c-37fd1c54ee84.html|title=Cabarrus-filmed 'War Room' stuns Hollywood with $11M opening|work=Independent Tribune|date=2015-08-31|access-date=2015-09-08}}{{cite news|url=http://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/religion/article33626301.html|title=Christian film shot in Charlotte area makes box office splash |last=Funk|first=Tim|work=The Charlotte Observer|date=2015-09-02|access-date=2015-09-10}} At Oakwood Cemetery in Concord, two different scenes set 40 years apart were filmed. Through special effects, the Charlotte skyline, larger trees and some additional headstones were added.{{cite news|url=http://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/religion/article33637956.html|title=City a star in 'War Room'|last=Funk|first=Tim|work=The Charlotte Observer|date=2015-09-02|access-date=2015-09-10}}

Initial plans had the main characters being white; however, Alex began having dreams about a predominantly African-American cast and, believing that God was trying to tell him something, the brothers switched the characters to make it more in line with Alex's dream. Early on, Sony expressed some concerns over a film with a mostly African-American cast produced by a white-led production company, but the brothers stuck to the premise.

Several characters in the film are African-American and being released only months after the Charleston church shooting, those involved with the film say they don't believe that the timing of the film's release is a coincidence. According to director Kendrick, when Affirm Films first saw the film, they said, "If this had been told with a different race, it would be a different movie."{{cite web|url=https://huffingtonpost.com/entry/war-room-christian-movie_55ce62bfe4b0ab468d9d6933 |title="War Room" Has The One Thing Many Christian Films Don't Have – A Black Cast |date=August 15, 2015 |publisher=Huffingtonpost.com |access-date=2015-09-05}}

Stallings, who plays a major role in the film, says, "There are many people out there—white and black—who stay with their families and work through their problems. They aren’t thugs or gang leaders. War Room tells the truth about society by showing the reverse of that stereotype. Racial tension is dangerous and people are dying and a lot of us want to see that stopped. We protest and speak out and tweet out, but this problem is much bigger than human beings. This movie will give people a way to take these problems to the Lord and show them that prayer is the best weapon to fight back."

Provident Label Group and Sony Music Entertainment released a soundtrack with music from and inspired by the film{{cite web|url=http://warroomthemovie.com/music |title=War Room Soundtrack |publisher=Warroomthemovie.com |access-date=2015-09-05}} and the film's original motion picture score by Paul Mills.{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/war-room-original-motion-picture-score/1023390333?ls=1 |title=iTunes – Music – War Room (Original Motion Picture Score) by Paul Mills |publisher=iTunes |date=2015-08-07 |access-date=2015-09-05}} They were both released on August 7, 2015.

{{Infobox album

| name = War Room
(Music From and Inspired by the Motion Picture)

| type = Soundtrack

| artist = Various Artist

| cover =

| alt =

| released = {{Start date|2015|08|07}}

| recorded =

| venue =

| studio =

| genre = Soundtrack

| length = 43:13

| label = Provident Label Group / Sony Music Entertainment

| producer =

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| next_title =

| next_year =

}}

{{Track listing

| collapsed =

| headline =

| extra_column =

| total_length = 43:13

| all_writing =

| all_lyrics =

| all_music =

| title1 = Warrior

| music1 = Steven Curtis Chapman{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYEgOh_b-Co |title=Steven Curtis Chapman – "Warrior" (feat. scenes from War Room) |publisher=YouTube |date=2015-08-26 |access-date=2015-09-05}}

| length1 = 4:31

| title2 = Impossible

| music2 = Building 429

| length2 = 4:49

| title3 = Press On

| music3 = Mandisa

| length3 = 3:21

| title4 = Me Without You (Remix)

| music4 = TobyMac

| length4 = 3:40

| title5 = Crazy Faith

| music5 = John Waller

| length5 = 4:25

| title6 = Shake Yourself Loose

| music6 = Vickie Winans

| length6 = 3:59

| title7 = Amen

| music7 = I Am They

| length7 = 3:56

| title8 = To Know You

| music8 = Casting Crowns

| length8 = 4:47

| title9 = Healing Begins

| music9 = Tenth Avenue North

| length9 = 3:53

| title10 = Movie Score – (Raise ‘Em Up, Lord / Rekindle The Fire)

| music10 = Paul Mills

| length10 = 5:52

}}

{{Infobox album

| name = War Room
(Original Motion Picture Score)

| type = Soundtrack

| artist = Paul Mills

| cover =

| alt =

| released = {{Start date|2015|08|07}}

| recorded =

| venue =

| studio =

| genre = Score

| length = 57:05

| label = Provident Label Group / Sony Music Entertainment

| producer =

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| next_title =

| next_year =

}}

{{Track listing

| collapsed =

| headline =

| extra_column =

| total_length = 57:05

| all_writing =

| all_lyrics =

| all_music = Paul Mills

| title1 = Opening

| music1 = Paul Mills

| length1 = 2:33

| title2 = Mad Ball

| music2 = Paul Mills

| length2 = 0:45

| title3 = Wall of Remembrance

| music3 = Paul Mills

| length3 = 0:36

| title4 = Slick Salesman

| music4 = Paul Mills

| length4 = 1:17

| title5 = Temptation

| music5 = Paul Mills

| length5 = 0:49

| title6 = I Call It My War Room

| music6 = Paul Mills

| length6 = 2:26

| title7 = Contemplation

| music7 = Paul Mills

| length7 = 0:35

| title8 = Love Me a Little

| music8 = Paul Mills

| length8 = 1:38

| title9 = My Favorite Rep

| music9 = Paul Mills

| length9 = 1:07

| title10 = Do It for Me

| music10 = Paul Mills

| length10 = 0:46

| title11 = Knife Point

| music11 = Paul Mills

| length11 = 0:28

| title12 = Truth and Grace

| music12 = Paul Mills

| length12 = 1:37

| title13 = Learning to Fight

| music13 = Paul Mills

| length13 = 7:25

| title14 = Kicking Out the Devil

| music14 = Paul Mills

| length14 = 2:28

| title15 = Tired Sense

| music15 = Paul Mills

| length15 = 2:07

| title16 = Nightmare

| music16 = Paul Mills

| length16 = 0:32

| title17 = Discovering the War Room

| music17 = Paul Mills

| length17 = 1:23

| title18 = Forgive Me

| music18 = Paul Mills

| length18 = 3:13

| title19 = I Was Impressed

| music19 = Paul Mills

| length19 = 0:58

| title20 = I Am Not Done with Us

| music20 = Paul Mills

| length20 = 2:58

| title21 = I Can Do Better

| music21 = Paul Mills

| length21 = 1:56

| title22 = Jump with Us

| music22 = Paul Mills

| length22 = 1:00

| title23 = My Bonus Plan

| music23 = Paul Mills

| length23 = 1:15

| title24 = Whatever the Consequences

| music24 = Paul Mills

| length24 = 2:31

| title25 = That Was Grace

| music25 = Paul Mills

| length25 = 2:16

| title26 = Baked In

| music26 = Paul Mills

| length26 = 1:09

| title27 = Answer to My Prayers

| music27 = Paul Mills

| length27 = 3:29

| title28 = Good Samaritan

| music28 = Paul Mills

| length28 = 1:22

| title29 = That’s My Dad

| music29 = Paul Mills

| length29 = 0:34

| title30 = Raise ‘Em Up, Lord

| music30 = Paul Mills

| length30 = 3:24

| title31 = Rekindle the Fire

| music31 = Paul Mills

| length31 = 2:32

}}

War Room grossed $67.8 million in the United States and Canada and $6.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $74 million, against a production budget of $3 million.{{cite web|url=https://the-numbers.com/movie/War-Room#tab=international|title=War Room (2015)|publisher=The Numbers|access-date=January 3, 2016}}

War Room made an estimated $600,000 from Thursday night shows, which began at 7 p.m. in 1,017 theaters.{{cite web|author=Dave McNary |url=https://variety.com/2015/film/news/box-office-we-are-your-friends-beaten-war-room-1201580329/ |title=Box Office: 'We Are Your Friends' Beaten by 'War Room' Thursday |date=August 28, 2015 |publisher=Variety |access-date=2015-08-29}}{{cite web|author=Anthony D'Alessandro |url=https://deadline.com/2015/08/we-are-your-friends-war-room-no-escape-box-office-1201508969/ |title='War Room' Box Office Starts With $600K, Beating Zac Efron Movie |publisher=Deadline |access-date=2015-08-29}} On its opening day, the film grossed $4 million.{{cite web|last=McClintock |first=Pamela |url=https://hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-faith-based-war-818318 |title=Box Office: Faith-Based 'War Room' Ties With 'Compton' on Friday |work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=1999-02-22 |access-date=2015-08-29}} In its opening weekend, the film grossed $11.4 million, more than double initial projections, finishing second at the box office behind third-week number one holder Straight Outta Compton ($13.1 million) with only 1/3 the number of theaters and twice the gross revenue per theater.{{cite web|url=https://boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2015&wknd=35&p=.htm |title=Weekend Box Office Results for August 28–30, 2015 |publisher=Box Office Mojo |date=2015-09-05 |access-date=2015-09-05}}

In its second weekend, the film finished first at the box office with $9.5 million,{{cite web|last=Simanton |first=Keith |url=https://boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4102&p=.htm |title=Weekend Report -'War Room' Walks to #1 |publisher=Box Office Mojo |date=2015-09-06 |access-date=2015-09-06}} and became the first film to reach the number 1 spot at the North American box office with a gross of less than $10 million since The Possession reached number 1 in its second weekend with $9.31 million during the same weekend in 2012.{{cite web|url=https://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/lowest1.htm|title=Lowest Grossing Movies to Rank #1 at the Weekend Box Office|work=boxofficemojo.com}} Over its four-day Labor Day weekend, the film posted an 18% increase with a weekend total of $13.4 million from 1,526 screens.{{cite web|url=https://boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2015&wknd=36a&p=.htm |title=September 4-7, 2015 |publisher=Box Office Mojo |date=2015-09-07 |access-date=2015-10-22}} Regarding War Room{{'}}s box office performance, CNN said "some might call it a faith-based David versus the secular Goliaths in the entertainment industry".{{cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2015/09/08/entertainment/war-room-box-office-feat/|title=How 'War Room' is winning the battle of the box office|author=Lisa Respers France|date=September 8, 2015|work=CNN}} It still ranked number 3 in its third week, increasing its screen count to 1,647 with revenue of $7.8 million (18% drop). It increased its screen count by 295, but dropped to sixth place to $6.2 million.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 32% based on 34 reviews, with an average rating of 4.70/10.{{cite web |url=https://rottentomatoes.com/m/war_room_2015/ |title=War Room (2015) |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=January 30, 2016}} Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 26 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".{{cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/movie/war-room |title=War Room reviews |publisher=Metacritic |access-date=September 19, 2015}} On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film a rare average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale,{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2015/08/we-are-your-friends-war-room-no-escape-box-office-1201508969/|title='War Room' Finds More Followers On Sunday, But 'Compton' Is Still King – Monday Box Office Final|first1=Anthony|last1=D'Alessandro|date=August 31, 2015}} while PostTrak-surveyed filmgoers gave the film a 73% "definite recommend".{{cite web|url=https://www.thewrap.com/faith-based-war-room-bible-belts-straight-outta-compton-at-box-office/|title=Faith-Based 'War Room' Bible-Belts 'Straight Outta Compton' at Box Office|work=The Wrap|date=September 6, 2015|access-date=July 11, 2018}}

The Los Angeles Times called the film "more of a Bible study than anything else" and "so heavy on broad pulpit pounding that it’s challenging to get swept away by the story’s message."{{Cite web |last=Rechtshaffen |first=Michael |date=2015-08-28 |title=Review: 'War Room' an overwrought Bible study class of a drama |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-war-room-movie-review-20150828-story.html |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}} The A.V. Club called it "structurally listless and unimaginative", and said that it was "creepy to encourage women to believe the true source of their husbandly woes is Satan rather than an issue that probably needs to be discussed."{{Cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/the-filmmakers-who-helped-kirk-cameron-battle-porn-want-1798184816|title=The filmmakers who helped Kirk Cameron battle porn want to pray away racial tension|website=Film|date=August 28, 2015 }}

Christian-focused publications gave it positive reviews, however. The Christian Post praised the film, calling it better than Courageous and Fireproof.{{cite web|url=http://www.christianpost.com/news/war-room-is-better-than-courageous-and-fireproof-143683/#!|title='War Room' Is Better Than 'Courageous' and 'Fireproof'|work=Christian Post|date=August 26, 2015 }} According to Crosswalk.com, "it comes as good news that War Room is a step up for the Kendricks, who continue to develop as filmmakers."{{cite web|url=http://www.crosswalk.com/culture/movies/kendrick-brothers-starting-to-win-the-battle-with-i-war-room-i.html|title=Kendrick Brothers Starting to Win the Battle with War Room|work=Crosswalk.com}}

War Room was released on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on December 22, 2015.[https://comingsoon.net/dvd/features/643067-december-22-2015-this-week-on-blu-ray-dvd-and-digital-hd#/slide/1 December 22, 2015: This Week on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD] comingsoon.net, Retrieved December 31, 2015 The film debuted in second place on the home video chart behind Minions.[https://variety.com/2015/digital/news/war-room-makes-strong-debut-but-minions-still-no-1-on-disc-charts-1201670187/ ‘War Room’ Makes Strong Debut, But ‘Minions’ Still No. 1 on Disc Charts] Variety, Retrieved December 31, 2015 The following week, War Room reached the top spot of the home video sales chart.[https://variety.com/2016/digital/news/war-room-takes-top-spot-on-home-video-sales-chart-1201673965/ ‘War Room’ Takes Top Spot on Home Video Sales Chart] Variety, Retrieved January 8, 2016 {{As of|2019|6|df=US}}, the film has made $48 million from home media sales.

• List of black films of the 2010s

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Official website|http://warroomthemovie.com/}}
• {{IMDb title|3832914|War Room}}
• {{TCMDb title|2065172|War Room}}
• {{Box Office Mojo|warroom2015|War Room}}
• {{Rotten Tomatoes|war_room_2015|War Room}}
• {{Metacritic film|title=War Room}}

{{Alex Kendrick}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:War Room}}

Category:2015 films

Category:2015 drama films

Category:American independent films

Category:African-American drama films

Category:Films about Christianity

Category:Films about religion

Category:Films directed by Alex Kendrick

Category:Films shot in Charlotte, North Carolina

Category:Films shot in North Carolina

Category:Religious drama films

Category:Inspirational Film of the Year Dove Award winners

Category:TriStar Pictures films

Category:Affirm Films films

Category:Films about Baptist Christianity

Category:2015 independent films

Category:2010s English-language films

Category:2010s American films

Category:English-language independent films