January 5: Christian Thriller 'Thr3e' Hits Theaters

20th Century Fox decided to take the plunge in 2006 and start a division dedicated to producing "Christian-friendly" films. The first release through Fox Faith hit theaters six years ago today. The movie was a big-screen adaptation of Ted Dekker's 2003 novel "Thr3e." Dekker was one of the top authors in the Christian publishing market, and the book had won several awards and landed at the top of several bestseller lists. It seemed like the perfect place to start for the new division.

The movie revolved around three individuals who are forced into a mission to end a deadly game fashioned by a demented murderer. If they don't stop it, one or more of them could die. The mysterious killer uses strange riddles and impossible timelines to coerce them into getting involved.

Robby Henson directed "Thr3e." He had previously worked with Christian writer Frank Peretti on a movie adaptation of his best-selling novel "The Visitation." Henson must have had a good experience working with both Dekker and Peretti, as he went on to helm the film version of their book "House" directly after "Thr3e." Alan B. McElroy wrote the screenplay for the movie. He had previously worked on "Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers," "Spawn," and the Christian film "Left Behind." He also penned "Wrong Turn," which launched a series of straight-to-DVD sequels.

The cast of "Thr3e" featured horror genre regulars Bill Moseley and Priscilla Barnes. Moseley is known for his roles in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2" and "House of 1,000 Corpses." He went on to star in Henson's adaptation of "House" as well. The movie also starred Marc Blucas ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer"). Barnes is most remembered as the replacement of Suzanne Sommers's character on "Three's Company." However, she has appeared in several horror films like "Stepfather III," "The Devil's Rejects," and Henson's Christian supernatural thriller "The Visitation."

Dekker came to the movie set almost every day of the shoot. He put three lines in many shots of the movie as an homage to the cover of his book. Some of the lines are drawn on walls but they also showed up via objects like chalk, pencils, and such.

Movie critics absolutely detested "Thr3e," calling it "a shoddily made, thrill-free thriller that isn't half as good as the several movies it borrows from ('Adaptation,' 'Saw,' 'Se7en')." Audiences didn't take to it very well either, as proved by its dismal box office take.

The film only opened in 450 theaters. It made $700,000 in its opening weekend and brought in a little over $1 million in the United States during its 17 days in theaters. "Thr3e" didn't even make back its budget, which was around $2.4 million.

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Eric Shirey is the founder and former editor of Rondo Award nominated movie news websites MovieGeekFeed.com and TheSpectralRealm.com. His work has been featured on Yahoo!, DC Comics, StarWars.com, and other entertainment websites. Eric has interviewed and worked with actors like Harrison Ford, Brooke Shields, Gerard Butler, Brendan Fraser, Selena Gomez, and many more.

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