Hit by The Blind Side

In its third week, the movie "The Blind Side" jumped to No. 1 in the box office over its big challenger "New Moon," to become the highest-grossing debut for a sports movie.

"The Blind Side," starring Sandra Bullock, depicts the true story of NFL football player Michael Oher. Oher was homeless until he was adopted by a Tennessee mother (played by Bullock) and was encouraged to play high school football in Memphis, until he was picked up by a team in the NFL.

Grace Hill Media is the entity being credited with "The Blind Side" usurping the tween-tastic "Twilight" sequel in their third weeks. Grace Hill Media, a movie-marketing firm geared toward the church-going crowd, has been quietly reaching out to Christian audiences with the new movie, resulting in a large Christian crowd in theaters.

Movies with faith-based themes often tap into Grace Hill Media's many outlets before it is released. The media company offers clips from these movies to a database of 155,000 ministry professionals and over 1 million consumers. These clips are often used to accompany high-tech Sunday morning services, where they could potentially be shared with the entire church-going population.

To read more about the strategies employed by Grace Hill Media, click here.

The makers of "Blind Side" made a good choice when they utilized Grace Hill Media and the Christian network. However, it does not seem like news to hear about movies marketing themselves through Christian networks. I also have to comment that while "New Moon" may have had a large screaming-girl following in the first two weeks, it's not like the film has any true merit for people outside of that population to attend. The fact that "The Blind Side" beat out "New Moon" in the third week is no real surprise and probably shouldn't shock too many people out there.