The soundtrack to the reggae legend Bob Marley biopic was expected to hit No. 1 in the charts ahead of the film’s release.

But predictions for Paramount’s “Bob Marley: One Love” at the box office were not so optimistic.

The biopic chronicles Bob Marley’s (Kingsley Ben-Adir) rise to fame in the mid-1970s and his complicated relationship with his wife Rita Marley (Lasana Lynch) until his death in 1981.

Instead, the film defied expectations of $30-$35 million in the first six days of its Valentine’s Day release. The receipts amounted to 52 million dollars in this period.

Reviews from film critics, including Variety, were mediocre at best.

In his statements to Variety, Bob Marley’s son and producer of the film spoke about the warm reception of the audience to “Bob Marley: One Love” and about the reviews.

“Whatever critics don’t understand, people do. It was meant to be,” said Ziggy Marley.

“I read the review of (Bob Marley and the Wailers’ 1977 album) Exodus. They buried it. It is terrible. So box office success was expected. People make the decisions, not the critics,” he noted.

“We had the advantage of seeing what effect the film had on audiences around the world whether it was in Kingston or London or Paris or the premiere in Los Angeles. At the premiere in Kingston, at Kingsley’s first line, the audience burst into applause. I won’t forget it,” Paramount co-chairman Mike Ireland said, adding:

“At that moment, I knew we had made it. This experience is not reflected in any weekend forecast. The audience is just enjoying the movie. They clap and cry and leave feeling something. So, we assumed that this would lead her beyond the predictions. The question was: How much more.”

Our story is about this man and his heart. It is not a typical biographical story. It is also spiritual. Critics might have expected a different story, Ziggy Marley reckoned.