Christians: Hollywood’s hot audience
Movie studios are amplifying efforts to cater to the Christian market.You may or may not remember, but family films used to be central to Hollywood’s success. Epics such as The Ten Commandments, The Greatest Story Ever Told, and The King of Kings came out of the 1950s and ’60s.
As pop culture shifted and values-based films began to fall out of favor with studio executives, exploitive and profane content seeped into movies to the point of saturation. Many Christians would no longer risk a trip to the theater as most films stirred up offense.
When The Passion of The Christ grossed $612 million theatrically in 2004, Hollywood started to take notice and court a previously discarded Christian audience.
In a rebirth of sorts, the number of movie studios now seeking to cater to the Christian market is increasing.
Big-money backing from companies such as 20th Century Fox, Motive Entertainment, and Walden Media have helped make the development and marketing of quality family-friendly films a priority. Here’s a sampling of recent entertainment offerings.
Opening in theaters Feb. 23, 2007, Walden Media’s Amazing Grace stars Ioan Gruffudd (Fantastic Four) as William Wilberforce, the man who championed the abolition of slavery in the British Empire.
The soundtrack, Music Inspired By the Motion Picture Amazing Grace (Sparrow/EMI CMG), features modern day versions of period hymns by top Christian, gospel, and country artists. It releases Jan. 23, 2007 to both the general market and CBA-member stores.
Charlotte’s Web, a new version of the E.B. White-authored children’s classic, is another major-motion picture backed by Walden Media, also behind the success of
Because of Winn-Dixie and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The film, which hit theaters last month, stars Dakota Fanning as Fern, the young farm girl who adopts a poor little piglet she calls Wilbur. Voices in the live-action/computer-animated feature include big names such as Julia Roberts, Oprah Winfrey, Steve Buscemi, and Reba McEntire.
While not entirely evangelical in nature, the film caters to Christian values, likely to become a family favorite. The movie’s soundtrack features songs by Hawk Nelson, Amy Grant, and Billy Ray Cyrus, plus exclusive tracks by Bob Carlisle, Leigh Nash, and more.
While the aforementioned films illustrate a movie’s success with large pockets for production and marketing, Facing the Giants proved that low budget, independently produced faith movies can compete at the box office. This inspirational sports film was funded by $100,000 in donations from Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, GA. Grossing more than $8 million since its Sept. 29, 2006 theatrical release, the film is poised to continue performing upon its Jan. 30 DVD debut.
The Nativity Story’s $65 million budget made it the most expensive religion-themed movie in history to come out of a major studio. The film made $8 million in theaters its opening weekend.
One Night with the King, a lower budget ($20 million) Biblical epic that follows young Hadassah, an ordinary Jewish girl destined to become Esther, Queen Of Persia, grossed more than $13 million during its limited theatrical release as part of 20th Century Fox’s new Fox Faith initiative. The DVD debuts Feb. 6 from Word Distribution.
Groundbreaking film The Passion of the Christ was one of the biggest box office sellers of all time, and the original DVD sold more than 15 million units. Now, The Passion: The Definitive Edition (Word) includes behind-the-scenes documentary, deleted scenes, and more. The two DVD-set streets Feb. 6.
Paul Lauer’s Motive Entertainment, which designed and executed the highly successful marketing campaigns for The Passion of the Christ and grass-roots outreach campaigns for The Polar Express and The Chronicles of Narnia, also promoted the Dec. 22 theatrical release of Rocky Balboa.
The film starring Sylvester Stallone is reportedly the final installment of the Academy Award-winning “Rocky” series. The PG-rated movie follows former heavyweight champion Rocky Balboa as he steps out of retirement and back into the ring, pitting himself against a new rival in a different era.
During marketing efforts leading up to the film’s release Stallone traveled nationwide explaining that he felt compelled to write the first film, and he believes that drive came from God. He said the character of Rocky was meant to reflect the characteristic nature of Jesus. Stallone confessed his own life didn’t follow the humble example of the boxer who made him a Hollywood star. But, Stallone said he’s been going through a change in his life and turned to Christ, allowing him to write the final chapter of the epic series.
Thr3e, another film under the Fox Faith umbrella, releases to more than 500 screens Jan. 5, 2007. Based on Ted Dekker’s best-selling novel, the PG-13 thriller follows a young seminary student targeted by a psychopathic killer. Specific locations and theater information are available at FoxFaithMovies.com. Word Distribution will release the DVD in March.
Now The Weinstein Co. (TWC) is following in FoxFaith’s footsteps, forming a faith-based film distribution label and making a multiyear deal with Christian production company Impact Entertainment to produce and acquire theatrical and direct-to-DVD content. TWC has the first option to release movies that Impact chooses to develop.
The first two theatrical projects to go into development adaptations of The Penny (FaithWords) by Joyce Meyer and Deborah Bedford and The Christmas Candle (Westbow/Nelson) by Max Lucado. Execs said the goal is eventually to release six theatrical titles per year. ”This is a rapidly emerging and important area in the entertainment industry, and this deal fits perfectly into our strategy of acquiring and producing films that target niche audiences,” said TWC's Bob Weinstein.
posted by Carrie @ 12/12/2006
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