{"id":8120,"date":"2011-10-05T15:47:07","date_gmt":"2011-10-05T19:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/news\/?p=8120"},"modified":"2011-10-05T21:52:15","modified_gmt":"2011-10-06T01:52:15","slug":"hollywood-discovers-the-public-loves-inspirational-christian-movies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/10\/hollywood-discovers-the-public-loves-inspirational-christian-movies","title":{"rendered":"Hollywood discovers the public loves inspirational Christian movies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Noah, machine gun preachers, religious cops, golfers finding their faith — good family movies\u00a0with solid plots, beautiful cinematography and A-list stars\u00a0are shaking\u00a0Hollywood to its violent, filthy, perverse core — but the studios don’t care as long as it makes lots of\u00a0money.<\/p>\n

“In many quarters, Hollywood has long been regarded as an essentially godless place. But judging by the offerings at the movies this season, and more in the works, Tinseltown is rediscovering religion,” writes Susan King for the\u00a0Los Angeles Times:<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

In the span of just a few weeks starting in late August, audiences looking for God at their local multiplex have had their choice of titles, including Higher Ground,<\/em> a chronicle of one woman’s struggle with her faith; Seven Days in Utopia,<\/em> an inspirational golf drama; and Machine Gun Preacher,<\/em> about an evangelist who takes up arms in Africa.<\/p>\n

And the onslaught isn’t slowing down. Courageous,<\/em> about policemen wrestling with their faith after a tragedy, opened this weekend. Emilio Estevez’s The Way,<\/em> about a father on a religious pilgrimage, is set for Friday.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Christian Bale has been mentioned to play the lead in a $150 million big screen adaptation of Noah\u2019s Ark that\u00a0Paramount and New Regency jointly announced they will distribute.<\/p>\n

This summer’s\u00a0films, note King,\u00a0follow the success this spring of Soul Surfer,<\/em> about a Christian teen surfer’s comeback after losing an arm to a shark. The film brought in nearly $44 million at the U.S. box office. Unlike low-budget, poor-quality films of the recent past, this latest batch\u00a0feature stars such as\u00a0Gerard Butler, Emilio Estevez, Robert Duvall, Louis Gossett Jr., Helen Hunt, Melissa Leo, Helen Mirren and\u00a0Martin Sheen.<\/p>\n

The Noah film is\u00a0Darren Aronofsky’s childhood dream. John Logan of Gladiator<\/em> and\u00a0The Aviator<\/em>\u00a0is currently working on rewrites of the script. It was born when Aronofsky as a 13-year-old won a United Nations competition\u00a0with a poem about the end of the world as seen through the eyes of\u00a0the\u00a0Ark builder. That’s the idea for\u00a0the film, he says:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the end of the world and it\u2019s the second-most famous ship after the Titanic.<\/em> So I\u2019m not sure why any studio won\u2019t want to make it. I think it\u2019s really timely because it\u2019s about environmental apocalypse which is the biggest theme, for me, right now for what\u2019s going on on this planet. So I think it\u2019s got these big, big themes that connect with us. Noah was the first environmentalist.<\/p>\n

Since I was a kid, I have been moved and inspired by the story. The imaginations of countless generations have sparked to this epic story of faith. It\u2019s my hope that I can present a window into Noah\u2019s passion and perseverance for the silver screen.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It seems religious epics are making a comeback in a big way. Why? Because crowds love the films, notes Michelle Bearden in the Kansas City Star<\/a>.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n

The phenomenon is forcing a mix of diverse cultures. At the\u00a0\u00a0Georgia-based Sherwood Pictures, each day of shooting on the Courageous<\/em> set began with a devotional and time of prayer — not your average Hollywood moment.<\/p>\n

“This film company is about as far from Hollywood as you can get,” notes\u00a0Bearden. “It\u2019s a ministry of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga., a midsize town about three hours south of Atlanta. Its purpose: Produce movies that promote a Christian message using mostly volunteers, then funnel the profits into outreach programs that benefit communities and start-up churches.”<\/p>\n

Bearden quotes Sherwood sound-mixer Rob Whitehurst:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about making money with them. It\u2019s about making a difference. They use movies as a way to get that message across globally. They know this is a medium that has the power to impact people way beyond the pews.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What makes the Sherwood experience different from the secular productions he has worked on?<\/p>\n

\u201cThey pray a lot,\u201d Whitehurst says. \u201cThey aren\u2019t moving on something unless God moves them to do it. And if you look at what they\u2019ve accomplished, you will understand that God has answered their prayers.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Why are audiences clamoring for inspirational films with solid spiritual messages?<\/p>\n

“A confluence of factors — including the economic and social difficulties facing the country in the last few years, a desire among actors and directors for interesting roles and the success of 2009’s rather religious The Blind Side<\/em> — seem to be at work,” writes King.<\/p>\n

“We are doing some serious soul-searching as a nation, trying to decide who we are going to be and what we are going to stand for,” said Craig Detweiler, director of the Center of Entertainment, Media and Culture at Pepperdine University, which is affiliated with Churches of Christ. “I think that does take us back to ultimate questions, whether as filmmakers or audiences.”<\/p>\n

Emmy Award winner Kathy Baker appears in Seven Days<\/em> and Machine Gun<\/em> both times as a devout woman. Though she considers herself a spiritual person, she said she was drawn to the projects because they were both strong roles. And in the case of Machine Gun,<\/em> she had the opportunity to work with director Marc Forster.<\/p>\n

“You have this wonderful director who can do anything and you give him this great story that has to deal with international politics. It’s only a coincidence to me that it’s faith-based.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The 1950s, notes King,\u00a0were a particularly ripe time for epic religious dramas — including DeMille’s The Ten Commandments,<\/em> as well as Ben Hur<\/em> and Quo Vadis<\/em> — plus other titles such as The Robe.<\/em><\/p>\n

Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ<\/em> was a hit in 2004, but he made it on his own. After that and The Blind Side,<\/em> which earned $256 million in the U.S. and for which Sandra Bullock took home the lead actress Oscar last year, studios and independent filmmakers are taking a fresh look at spiritual stories.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Gibson has made a deal with Warner Bros. for a film about the life of Judah Maccabee, the warrior whose ancient victory is celebrated at Hanukkah. Warner Bros. also has a Moses movie in development. Rise of the Planet of the Apes <\/em>producer Peter Chernin has another Moses project in the works for 20th Century Fox.<\/p>\n

Courageous<\/em> is\u00a0the latest\u00a0effort from the unabashedly Christian filmmaking team of brothers Alex and Stephen Kendrick.<\/p>\n

They are ministers and as kids loved making movies.\u00a0They realized\u00a0decided films were a perfect vehicle to deliver the Christian message to a wide audience.<\/p>\n

With\u00a0a $20,000 donations from their church, they made their debut in 2003 with Flywheel,<\/em> a drama about a\u00a0crooked\u00a0used car dealer who turns his life around after becoming a Christian, writes King:<\/p>\n

Next came\u00a02006’s Facing the Giants,<\/em> about a high school football coach in crisis who prays to God for help. In 2008, their film “Fireproof,” a drama starring Kirk Cameron as a firefighter with a flagging marriage and an addiction to Internet porn who becomes a born-again Christian, was the highest-grossing indie film of the year, making $33.5 million.<\/p>\n

“Our target audience is the faith audience first,” said Alex Kendrick, who directs, edits and stars in the movies, while his brother produces; the two share writing duties. “But we realize with each of our previous movies there is a good bit of bleed-over and we do have a significant number of viewers who may not have a faith of their own.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Since completing Courageous<\/em>, Alex Kendrick and his brother are unsure what’s on the horizon, he told King.<\/p>\n

“We are now praying about the next project,” Kendrick said. “We’re in a season of prayer where we say ‘God, what do you want us to do next?’ “<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Noah, machine gun preachers, religious cops, golfers finding their faith — good family movies\u00a0with solid plots, beautiful cinematography and A-list stars\u00a0are shaking\u00a0Hollywood to its violent, filthy, perverse core — but the studios don’t care as long as it makes lots of\u00a0money. “In many quarters, Hollywood has long been regarded as an essentially godless place. But…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32,184],"tags":[2204,2220,1686,1609,1687,1689,1688],"class_list":["post-8120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian","category-entertainment","tag-christian","tag-entertainment","tag-higher-ground","tag-machine-gun-preacher","tag-seven-days-in-utopia","tag-soul-surfer","tag-the-way"],"yoast_head":"\nHollywood discovers the public loves inspirational Christian movies<\/title>\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\/news\/2011\/10\/hollywood-discovers-the-public-loves-inspirational-christian-movies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hollywood discovers the public loves inspirational Christian movies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Noah, machine gun preachers, religious cops, golfers finding their faith — good family movies\u00a0with solid plots, beautiful cinematography and A-list stars\u00a0are shaking\u00a0Hollywood to its violent, filthy, perverse core — but the studios don’t care as long as it makes lots of\u00a0money. “In many quarters, Hollywood has long been regarded as an essentially godless place. 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