Hollywood studio executives are reeling from recent big budget flops and are desperately looking for ways to boost box office numbers. Hence the reason they are turning to what they term “faith-based audiences” – vast and tightly connected communities that are easily socially networked.
The latest example is the movie Secretariat, the true life story of an American thoroughbred race horse that won the Triple Crown in 1973. Although the world of horse racing may not initially seem like an ideal bet for church-going communities, the movie opens and closes with a quote from the Book of Job, and at a key moment the gospel hymn "Oh Happy Day" serenades the audience. It is, the makers say, the ultimate feel-good movie - about the miracle of life itself.
More specifically this Disney production is being aggressively marketed to Christian audiences, to the extent that the director, Randall Wallace, who is himself a Christian, even promoted the film on a website called HollywoodJesus.com, where he discussed how the story of the horse's triumph against the odds "affirms and celebrates the idea of faith and hope."
Other films that embrace Christian themes, like forgiveness and redemption, are in the works. They include next year's Soul Surfer, starring Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt, which tells the story of American surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost an arm in a shark attack but eventually returned to her sport.
Hollywood's pursuit of Christian audiences is nothing if not thorough. There are websites for pastors to download trailers and film clips for use in sermons, along with suggested Biblical quotations to link them to. Screenings are held for religious leaders months before official release dates, and promotional materials are produced for Bible study groups. Movie marketing moguls recognize the extreme power of the local church communities who have built-in tightly knit and loyal social networks.
Hollywood’s eyes were fully opened to the extreme potential of the Christian audience by the success of The Blind Side, which was the surprise US hit of last year. It is believed this success came largely on the back of faith communities who responded to the movie in droves. Clips of the movie were provided to 22,000 "mega-churches" across the US before it was released, along with suggested Bible passages for pastors to discuss in their sermons.
For Hollywood executives, the figures that resulted from the campaign were enough to have them yelling ‘hallelujah!’. Each church had an average congregation of 400, meaning the clips reached an estimated audience of 8.8 million. Many of those went straight from their pews to the cinema resulting in the film grossing $309 million and propelling its star, Sandra Bullock, to an Oscar for Best Actress.
It appears this relationship between Hollywood and the church is equally convenient for pastors, many of whom are increasingly reliant on multi-media to proclaim their message. The use of film to build sermon series around is popular because it is an opportunity to share the Gospel message using professional and well-made stories that people easily relate to.