How faith-based entertainment has made a comeback in Hollywood

Hollywood appears to be found its belief, with a surge Of Religious-Themed appearances from leading actors such as Josh O’Connor, Keanu Reeves And elizabeth olsen In upcoming roles.

This trend extends beyond major studio productions and independent features, to include a notable increase in confessional films and television series that primarily promote or depict specific religions. ChristianityWhich the audience liked very much.

Examples include Angel Studio’s animated Bible musicals, davidMartin Scorsese’s docudrama has already pulled in more than $14 million in theatrical pre-sale tickets ahead of its release this Friday. SaintWhile Season 2 episodes are still being released, the latter’s first season on Fox Nation proved to be the platform’s most-watched series last year,

Traci Blackwell, Head of Targeted Content for Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios recently confirmed this change Diversity event, declaring: “There has been a revival of spirituality and faith content, a revolution of sorts.” Amazon has invested heavily in premiering its own Bible drama david’s house and securing exclusive US streaming rights for selectiveAn extremely popular series depicting the life of Jesus.

selective Effect

Historically, few faith-based entertainments have performed well at the box office – Mel Gibson’s 2004 epic passion of christ It was the highest-grossing R-rated film in the US and Canada for two decades. But for most of this century, faith-based hits have been few and far between.

Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at comScore, emphasized the box-office potential of faith-based films, saying, “Hollywood has been criticized a lot by people in the faith community for not providing films that speak to them, that reflect their values.”

Due to the success of , studios are realizing that faith-based film and television is at least somewhat of a worthwhile investment. selectiveWhich Angel helped launch in 2017, even though it took time to see those results initially.

Angel CEO and co-founder Neil Harmon recalled, “It was like pulling teeth to get people to see it.” “People have this idea that faith has to be cheesy or preachy. And we had to break down that barrier.”

Once they did this, it paid off. Since Fathom Entertainment began distribution selective As of 2023 theatrically, the series has grossed over $116 million domestically.

Although not a Christian company, Angel’s goal is to distribute and market “values-based entertainment” including but not limited to stories of faith. He has released many religious films zero bcOn the docket for 2026, a Biblical epic about the massacre of innocents is described in the Gospel of Matthew.

Meanwhile, Lionsgate is ready to premiere i can only imagine 2 In theaters in February, the sequel to the 2018 biopic starring Dennis Quaid, which was one of the highest-grossing Christian films of all time in the United States.

Co-director Andrew Irwin said he noticed a “massive shift” about five years ago, after years of a gap between the demand for these types of films and Hollywood’s desire to make them.

He said, “For the first time, movie studios are actually giving us a fair shake,” though he thinks the quality of the content was also a factor. “We didn’t know about filmmaking. And so, I think the storytelling got a lot better.”

Lionsgate is also set to distribute the first part of Gibson’s two-part sequel passion of christ In 2027.

Defining ‘faith-based’

Trying to define what counts as faith-based programming is somewhat like trying to define what counts as pornography.

Themes of faith, guilt, and “foolish grace” abound in O’Connor. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery – Filmmaker Rian Johnson’s third hit Netflix Franchise. But only a few people would call it a religious film.

Amanda Seyfried preaches celibacy and endures harassment Ann Lee’s willMusical biopic about the founder of the Shakers sect, Christmas, in theaters. But in all the praise and Oscar buzz surrounding the film, there is little discussion of its connection with faith.

Even Scorsese’s 1988 last temptation of christ Or filmmaker Paul Schrader’s Oscar-nominated first improvement, which also stars Seyfried, are not largely regarded as Christian films, despite the fact that both men have been vocal about their respective traditions.

Scorsese’s daughter Francesca, who directed one of its episodes, said, “This film was his way of exploring his faith and figuring out who his God was.” Saintsaid about last temptation of christ,

Conversely, the people behind some of these recent projects resist calling them explicitly religious, even when audiences perceive them as such.

“I wouldn’t characterize it as overtly Christian,” said Jonathan Rumi, who plays Jesus in “selective, told the Associated Press last year. “It’s a historical drama that focuses on Jesus.”

For studios and filmmakers, admitting that a project is told from a religious perspective can be a double-edged sword.

“If you’re planning to go to a movie theater for a faith-based movie, you know there will be people around you who are genuinely interested in the experience,” Dergarabedian said. “As soon as you say faith-based, it kind of puts a movie in a box.”

a fad or here to stay

Many Christians celebrate the trend beyond its monetary potential. Grammy-nominated Christian recording artist Phil Wickham, who voices the character David in the upcoming Angel film, said it’s gratifying to see the success of shows like this. selective And David’s house.

“Growing up, anything in Christian media seemed preachy,” Wickham said. “Even as a pastor’s kid, that was a turnoff. But now I think there’s more opportunity to tell bigger stories over the course of a series and more people are willing to really dig deep and tell something with excellence and beauty.”

While it’s too early to tell if there’s been a sea change in Hollywood or if this is just a short-term fad, the success of some of these projects has come amid an otherwise perilous time in the business.

“Hollywood generally follows the money,” Jason Klarman, chief digital and marketing officer of Fox News Media, said of Fox Nation’s packed slate of upcoming faith-based content, which also includes Zachary Levi. David: King of Israel Documentation “Even when this trend goes away, we’ll still be doing this.”