The Wacky World of Christian Cinema

Christian movies.

Never have two words related to Hollywood been more divisive. It has been said that some people working in Hollywood would never work with you after you have produced a Christian film. This is probably mostly due to a pattern of poor quality low-budget Christian films over the past 50 years. (And in part due to the traditional values the Bible teaches, which can be in conflict with the majority culture of California’s Hollywood.) 

Even some Christians don’t like Christian movies!

For a while it felt silly to enjoy a Christian movie – especially if it felt low-budget, or had poor writing or acting. These days it is easier to find good quality Christian movies – something only made possible by major studios such as Sony and Lionsgate investing their money into such films. This is possible because there is now a built-up audience for Christian films, which Hollywood, like the music industry, sometimes tries to market with words such as ‘inspirational’ and ‘values’ to broaden the audience – and therefore, increase profits.

Long story short, this audience was basically built up between 2006 and 2018, book ended by two notable films. Facing the Giants was the first “surprise hit” of this genre. It made $10 million from a $100,000 budget.  In 2018, I Can Only Imagine made USD$86 million worldwide, on a $7 million budget.

What changed? From where I look, the studios – now with a vested interest – trained the churchgoing audience (over that decade) to  buy a ticket to see the movie, especially on Opening Weekend. Numerous times I would hear movie directors tell a Christian radio host, “You gotta realise that in Hollywood, the first weekend of release is the most important. It sets up how long the movie will be in theatres for.  So try to see the movie opening weekend. If we want to see more faith-based movies like this, you gotta vote with your ticket.”

Of course, fans of superhero movies know this too and so the release date is always advertised.

Unfortunately, it seems inevitable that the first few decades of Christian cinema produced low quality films. Churches had the poor to feed, pastors for which to provide a living wage, and the desire to fund cross-cultural missionaries. Who had 10 million dollars to fund a movie?

It started out with the demand for them. Of course, Christians in the West grow up enjoying movies like everyone else. And sometimes when we see a movie that inspires us, excites us, or challenges us, we think, “Aren’t there so many extraordinary stories in the Bible that could be translated on to the big screen? What about the story of that courageous Christian I heard about?”

And when Christians have watched movies that contain overt sexual content, graphic violence, or uncomfortable elements such as intense depictions of the occult, we have yearned for a more wholesome moviegoing experience. Why can’t we have Christian movies?

Of course, there is sex, violence – and even the occult – in the Bible. However the Bible doesn’t usually use emotive, descriptive language to describe violence. And sexual sins are often named but not described.

It was around the sixties that Hollywood stopped making their epic Bible films (The Ten Commandments, The Robe, Ben Hur). Then in the 70s, Christians began making their own films.

Some are shockingly awful. As a teen, I watched the 1973 film Thief in the Night – a thriller about fictional events of the rapture. The production values were so low budget it was embarrassing! These days, it’s nice to watch Christian movies that look like real movies, such as Jesus Revolution and The Case for Christ.

I must note that when I write about Christian Movies, I am not usually referring to mainstream movies like Scorsese’s Silence, Terrence Malick’s arthouse films, Aronofsky’s Noah, or Ridley Scott’s Exodus movie. Christian Movies are more so defined as modern movies with an evangelical protestant audience in mind. Therefore, most will be family friendly and easily accessible. 

The Christian Movie industry has changed radically this century. In 2008, when Billy: The Early Years failed at the box office, one commentator said, “Is there only space in the market for one Christian movie to be released during the Easter season?” (My paraphrase.)

This year around Easter, Ordinary Angels and Unsung Hero will be released. In 2023, there were three major releases:  Jesus Revolution, Sound of Freedom, Journey to Bethlehem. The Erwin’s Kingdom Story Company has released 3 out of those five.

We’ve come a long way from a youth group watching the cheesy Left Behind on VHS while eating chips and Fanta. In 2024, Christian movies are big business, with several key players, with no signs of stopping. 

This Easter, I watched part of the 2013 The Bible miniseries and I was inspired to write a blog series named The Duos That Defined Christian Movies. I am looking forward to publishing a few articles on the duos behind

• Billy Graham’s seventies biopics (anyone written an autobiography?)
  Update: Read ‘Joni’ and ‘The Hiding Place’: Duos That Defined Christian Movies #01
  
• VeggieTales (70 million videos sold? Whaat?)
  Update: Read The Guys who Created VeggieTales: Duos That Defined Christian Movies #02
  
• The Bible series & the Ben Hur remake (from the  reality TV dynamo behind Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? and Shark Tank),
  
• Facing the Giants and Fireproof (the movies a church made that got the studio execs interested),
  
• I Can Only Imagine & Jesus Revolution (perfecting the movie about a Christian pop star), and
  
• Left Behind (We love a movie about the end of the world. On a plane. Starring Kirk Cameron – I mean, Nicolas Cage).

The different duos behind these films have changed the entertainment landscape for those who wanted stories inspired by the best selling, most stolen, most translated book of all history – the Bible.

I hope you have enjoyed these snippets of Christian Movie history. It is fascinating! Why not go and watch one?