Fathom Events is giving a major push to Christian comedian Chonda Pierce, booking more than 700 U.S. theaters for an April 25 screening of her documentary “Enough.”
The showing is among the largest rollouts for Fathom, which specializes in presenting live events for theatrical chains and is co-owned by AMC Entertainment, Cinemark Holdings and Regal Entertainment Group. “Batman: The Killing Joke” was in over 1,160 theaters last year; “TCM Big Screen Classics” screened at more than 700 theaters and “Met Live” showed at 700 sites.
“Enough” will be showing two years after Pierce’s documentary “Laughing in the Dark” rolled out at 584 theaters. The film was presented by Fathom Events and Fuseic Entertainment, centered on Pierce dealing with obstacles such as death and depression through faith and humor after her husband of 31 years died. “Laughing in the Dark” returned to nearly 800 theatres for an additional one-night encore showing.
The new film deals with her being a widow and her friends trying to persuade her to date. “People say, ‘Sorry to hear you lost your husband’ which sounds very irresponsible,” she says in a clip.
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Pierce performed at last month’s Faith and Freedom Ball during the inauguration of President Donald Trump. She did a 15-minute set, then went on the Women’s March on Washington the next day.
“Performing at the inauguration felt like patriotic thing to do and it’s something I would have done if Hillary Clinton had won and asked me to,” she told Variety. “They told me I could only do material about Trump and it went over pretty well. I’ve been performing for a long time but that was still pretty nerve-wracking.”
She added, “The Women’s March really energized me because I felt a lot in common with everyone on it,” she added. “As a woman, I’m still juggling and still trying to find answers.”
Pierce got her start working at Opryland Theme Park in Nashville where she performed as “Grand Ole Opry” star Minnie Pearl. She’s often billed as the “Queen of Clean” and performs over 100 concerts annually, specializing in a combination of wit and Southern charm. Five of her albums have gone gold, while two are platinum.
Pierce received five Daytime Emmy nominations for her work co-hosting talk show “Aspiring Women” on the Total Living Network and her first television special, “This Ain’t Prettyville!” on CMT.
Watch an exclusive trailer for “Enough” below:
