Reaction
Billy: The Early Years opened on October 10, 2008, less than a month before Billy Graham's 90th birthday, grossing $192,042 in 282 theaters during its opening weekend. The film would eventually gross a total of $347,328, earning far less than the film's production budget. In response to the film's reception at the box office, Larry Mortorff, the film's producer, said that Fireproof, which had been released around the same time as Billy: The Early Years, might have unintentionally hurt the film, stating that "maybe the Christian world can only take one Christian film at a time, and Fireproof may have taken that spot." Mortorff also said that his team was planning a "second wave" of theatrical releases and looking forward to recovering its losses through future DVD sales and TV deals.
Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham and the president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), stated that the association "has not collaborated with nor does it endorse the movie, Billy: The Early Years. Gigi, eldest daughter of Billy Graham, upheld the film, saying that the film has the "Gospel of Jesus in there" and " positive toward parents and their ministry."
Overlooking the film's "few minor flaws", a CBN review has described the film as " a simple and unassuming charm about it, much like the man it honors."
Read more about this topic: Billy: The Early Years, Release
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“More and more, when faced with the world of men, the only reaction is one of individualism. Man alone is an end unto himself. Everything one tries to do for the common good ends in failure.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“The excessive increase of anything often causes a reaction in the opposite direction.”
—Plato (c. 427–347 B.C.)