{"id":24777,"date":"2023-04-21T11:56:08","date_gmt":"2023-04-21T15:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=24777"},"modified":"2023-04-21T11:56:08","modified_gmt":"2023-04-21T15:56:08","slug":"the-success-of-recent-christian-films-shows-that-american-audiences-are-ready-for-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2023\/04\/the-success-of-recent-christian-films-shows-that-american-audiences-are-ready-for-more.html","title":{"rendered":"The Success of Recent Christian Films Shows That American Audiences Are Ready For More"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The surprising box office success of the Christian film \u201cHis Only Son\u201d is bringing Christian content to the forefront. The film, which tells the story of Abraham being told to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, found in Genesis 22, was made on a budget of $250,000. To date, the film has made over $12 million at the <\/span>box office<\/span><\/a>. The film was crowd-funded by\u00a0<\/span>Angel Studios<\/span><\/a>, which also helms the successful series \u201c<\/span>The Chosen<\/span><\/a>\u201d and the animated kids\u2019 show \u201c<\/span>The Wingfeather Saga,<\/span><\/a>\u201d based on the book of the same name by Andrew Peterson. David Helling, director of \u201cHis Only Son,\u201d joined\u00a0<\/span>Fox News Digital<\/span><\/em>\u00a0to discuss the film\u2019s success.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0The film is the director\u2019s first film, and he revealed his motivation for sharing the story. \u201cMy reason for wanting to do \u2018His Only Son\u2019 is to give an answer to the scoffers and the skeptics, for one, and to give a defense to believers that they could then answer the skeptics in their own lives,\u201d he <\/span>said<\/span><\/a>. \u201cSo, to be able to dig into the word and draw out what the Lord was doing and what the Lord was pointing to in the testing of Abraham\u2019s faith, that\u2019s what I wanted to do and why I wanted to do this film in particular,\u201d he went on to add. The film\u2019s success is getting noticed. \u201cI think Hollywood is taking notice because, at the end of the day, they see, OK, well, if there is revenue to be made through this type of entertainment, they might then now put more resources behind it. And because of that, we will start to see more and more of this content come out for a season.\u201d The recent success of \u201c<\/span>The Jesus Revolution<\/span><\/a>,\u201d which made over $50 million at the box office, might also be peaking Hollywood executives\u2019 interests. Helling, however, cautioned discernment. \u201cWe need to be more discerning. Just because it\u2019s got the name of Christ on it, or it\u2019s got the name of the Bible on it, or it talks about God, it doesn\u2019t mean that it\u2019s true.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are more Christian films upcoming. \u201c<\/span>Nefarious<\/span><\/a>,\u201d based on a book by Christian and political commentator Steve Deace, was released last weekend. The film deals with an atheist psychiatrist who must evaluate a death row inmate who claims to be a demon. Although the film is rated R, like the explosively popular \u201cPassion of the Christ,\u201d which earned over $600 million at the box office, the film has received many endorsements. Dr. Ben Carson endorsed the film on his\u00a0<\/span>Facebook<\/span><\/a>, writing, \u201cNefarious raises the bar \u2014 considerably \u2014 in the faith-based genre. It has the writing, acting, production value, and tone of so many beloved 1990s psychological thrillers such as Se7en but from an unabashed Christian worldview. Disregard its undeserved R-rating and instead use its slick trailer to convince all your unbelieving friends and family to go see it with you. Both of you will be challenged and entertained in all the right ways.\u201d \u201c<\/span>Big George Foreman<\/span><\/a>\u201d is due to come out on April 28th. The film deals with the world champion\u2019s conversion to Christianity.\u00a0<\/span>Ron Block<\/span><\/a>, a 14-time Grammy winner who recently spoke with Beliefnet, revealed that he believes the hunger for Christian content comes from a human hunger for \u201cmore.\u201d \u201cHumans are a hunger. We were created that way, to be born with need \u2013 the need for love, security, strength, protection, self-worth, and many other things. We grow up learning to grasp things, situations, and people, trying to fill those needs,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen society begins to crumble when all our established patterns of life are threatened, it\u2019s a perfect opening for a move of God. Self-satisfaction, self-sufficiency, comfort, and ease can be barriers\u2026 Complacency brings boredom, and boredom brings error. Error brings sin, and sin crumbles the society.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The surprising box office success of the Christian film \u201cHis Only Son\u201d is bringing Christian content to the forefront. The film, which tells the story of Abraham being told to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, found in Genesis 22, was made on a budget of $250,000. To date, the film has made over $12 million…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":24783,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-television"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Success of Recent Christian Films Shows That American Audiences Are Ready For More<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With the recent success of Christian movies in Hollywood, it leaves people wondering if American audiences are ready for more.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2023\/04\/the-success-of-recent-christian-films-shows-that-american-audiences-are-ready-for-more.html\" 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