Angel Studios’ ‘Drummer Boy’ Earns a Strong CinemaScore, Matching ‘Young Washington’
Angel Studios has spent 2026 leaning hard into America’s 250th anniversary, with a slate that includes ‘Young Washington’, ‘Drummer Boy‘ and ‘The Brink of War’. The first of those turned into a summer success, finishing with $47 million at the domestic box office. That put real pressure on the studio’s next history-flavored release to prove audiences were still showing up.
That release, ‘Drummer Boy’, is a Revolutionary War musical co-directed by Ben Smallbone and Joel David Smallbone, who also stars. It follows 2 brothers on opposite sides of the American Revolutionary War and features music from the Christian group For King and Country. The film shot in Ireland in May and had been in development since 2019.
Now opening-weekend audiences have weighed in. ‘Drummer Boy’ landed a strong A CinemaScore, putting it on par with the A earned by ‘Young Washington’. The PG-13 war musical is a crowd-pleaser in a weekend full of them.
Audiences have spoken!!! #3 In a weekend of strong crowd pleasers, #AngelStudios also has a release of their own beloved by moviegoers, as patriotic PG-13 war musical #DrummerBoy is received with a STRONG A #CinemaScore, on par with #YoungWashington’s A! 10th A for Angel’s releases, on par with #Sight, #Cabrini, #Bonhoeffer, #BraveTheDark, #TruthAndTreason, #TheSenior & #HisOnlySon, #David & #YoungWashington’s A, coming above #Homestead’s B, #TheShift’s B+ & #Sketch, #AmoreMio & #AfterDeath’s A- and only under #SoundOfHope, #TheKingOfKings, & #SoundOfFreedom A+
— Luiz Fernando (@Luiz_Fernando_J) November 7, 2026
The grade is the 10th A for an Angel release. It matches ‘Sight’, ‘Cabrini’, ‘Bonhoeffer’, ‘Brave the Dark’, ‘Truth and Treason’, ‘The Senior’, ‘His Only Son’, ‘David’ and ‘Young Washington’.
It also comes in above several of the studio’s other recent titles. ‘Homestead’ earned a B and ‘The Shift’ a B+, while ‘Sketch’, ‘Amore Mio’ and ‘After Death’ each landed an A-.
Only a small group of Angel films has done better. ‘Sound of Hope’, ‘The King of Kings’ and ‘Sound of Freedom’ all earned A+ grades.
The reception looks even better next to the box office numbers. Deadline projected a $9 million opening from 2,850 theaters, good for third place, after a $3.8 million Friday. Earlier in the week, the same outlet had reported that the film was eyeing a mid-single-digit debut, with around $3 million in presales.
Other forecasts were scattered but mostly lower. Box Office Theory pegged the range at $4.5 million to $9.5 million, and Gold Derby predicted $7 million. Boxoffice Pro was the most bullish at $10 million to $15 million, noting that Angel’s film was poised to be the distributor’s best performer since ‘Young Washington’.
DRUMMER BOY’s creation story was a miracle. See it for yourself at your local B&B theatre this week! https://t.co/QUMmI9S4c7
— Angel (@AngelStudiosInc) November 1, 2026
The competition was stiff. ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ topped the weekend with a projected $30 million or more, while ‘The Cat in the Hat’ took second. Even so, a third-place finish with an A grade is a solid start for a film reportedly made for $10 million.
The film’s emotional hook is a family torn apart. In a statement from Angel Studios, Ben Smallbone said the brothers discover that “the forgiveness born at Christmas is their only hope.” The poster carries a similar message with the tagline “Forgiveness is revolutionary.”
The story has a personal angle behind the scenes too. Ben Smallbone has said that a conflict with Joel nearly stopped them from making the movie, and that the brothers’ own reconciliation shaped the project.
On screen, Joel David Smallbone plays Jeremiah Clem, an American soldier who falls in love with an enslaved woman played by India Brown. His brother, played by Lucas Leach, joins the British Army. The supporting cast includes Ioan Gruffudd, Melora Hardin, Charles Esten and Iain Glen.
That mix of faith, family and music is exactly what has built Angel a loyal audience, and the A CinemaScore suggests the film is delivering for the people who showed up. Whether it can build on that goodwill through the coming weeks will be the next test.
Are you interested in watching Angel Studios’ Drummer Boy after its strong A CinemaScore?
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