By Michaela Gordoni
From THE CHOSEN to THE KING OF KINGS and SOUND OF FREEDOM, viewers are flocking to see their values represented.
THE KING OF KINGS opened with $19 million domestically this month, and THE CHOSEN Season 5’s first three parts combined made $36 million domestic, CBC reported.
“People are hungry for something. They’re hungry for change. They’re hungry for positive. They’re hungry for light,” explained Teddy Bear Award® winner Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus in THE CHOSEN. “They’re hungry for the light that the gospels ultimately provide.”
Prime Video’s HOUSE OF DAVID had one of Amazon’s top 10 series debuts. Over 22 million people watched it in its first 17 days of release.
THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER made $40 million domestic while competing with WICKED and MOANA 2 late last fall.
“I think…about 30% of our audience globally does not identify as religious or churchgoing, whether that be agnostic or atheistic,” Roumie said. “To us, that’s just an increasing proof that the power of this series is in its storytelling.”
Erica Mah, a Catholic priest and film critic, explained that when religion is shown and lived “authentically,” it relates to the human experience.
“Before, the focus was on making Christian films with the purpose of catechesis or evangelization. And now I think people are just focused on making good films, which I think actually is the way to go, right?” he said.
THE SOUND OF FREEDOM exemplified Christian values, despite no obvious link to religion.
“Here was a movie that had zero to do, on the surface, with religion or God,” Mah said. “But because of the story it was telling about child trafficking, it was kind of ringing a bell for people who identify as Christian or identify as religious who care about that as a subject.”
Wall Street Journal entertainment reporter John Jurgensen says movies and shows like these are positive “emotional triggers.” People want uplifting content. Movieguide® proves this every year in its Report to the Entertainment Industry, which shows that movies with moral values do the best at the box office.
Related: Is Faith-Based Content Taking Over Hollywood?
Last year, The Global Faith and Entertainment Study discovered that 80% of viewers want to see fresh and diverse narratives about faith instead of typical tropes.
Variety’s editor in chief, Cynthia Littleton, admits that there’s a high demand for faith-based content.
“The growth of this market cannot be denied,” she said at last year’s Variety Spirituality and Faith in Entertainment breakfast. “The evolution of the content has been significant in the last few years as the content business has been on steroids, and I think everybody in this room knows the market is wide and the demand is vast.”
Studios are catching on. Major companies, Sony, MGM, 21st Century Fox and others have launched faith-based studies, ABC reported in December.
“What we spend our money on, what we show to our families, has really become a point of contention for people who are staking out just different ways of thinking, and who want to see their viewpoints represented on the screens that they sit in front of,” Jurgensen said.
“It’s not necessarily the reason someone is buying that ticket,” he continued. “But I have a feeling that when pressed to talk about how it fits into their broader views of the world, they really see this as part of who they are.”
It’d be great for the box office and for viewers if this faith-based content boom continues. Let’s pray it does.
Read Next: Brandon Lake: ‘THE CHOSEN Changed My Life’
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