Rebirth of the Biblical Epic: Hollywood Rekindles Romance With Evangelical Christians, and Their Wallets
Noah, Moses, Jesus and Mary — and possibly even Cain and Abel, too, will all have their stories re-told by some of Hollywood's biggest names as filmmakers find themselves once again turning to the Bible for inspiration — and to the U.S. Christian market's more than 90 million evangelicals for a profit.
Before Mark Burnett and Roma Downey's smash hit "The Bible" series aired on The History Channel earlier this year, there were already rumors and reports that director Darren Aronofsky ("Black Swan," "The Wrestler") was working on "Noah." Director Ridley Scott also had spilled the beans in an Esquire interview the year prior about his designs for a new telling of Moses, and about his disdain for religion, that would rival Warner Brothers' "Gods and Kings," another Moses epic reportedly being considered by director Ang Lee since Steven Spielberg dropped the project.
Hollywood husband-and-wife duo Burnett ("Survivor," "The Voice") and Downey ("Touched by an Angel") broke ratings records this Spring for the History Channel by drawing more than 100 million viewers to the cable network's telecast of "The Bible" series. The five-part miniseries also became the top-selling TV series of all time across Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital HD formats, a boon for distributor 20th Century Fox. The groundbreaking TV project was even nominated for three Emmy awards, which Downey perceived as acknowledgement of the quality of the series.
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"We were nominated for Best Miniseries, so that was very validating," Downey told The Christian Post before the Sept. 22 awards broadcast revealed "The Bible" series' loss to HBO's "Behind the Candelabra."
"The success of ratings was great, but it was also after having poured our hearts and souls into making this, to have our peer group acknowledge the hard work and the quality — because I think you can have good intentions to make anything, but if it isn't well-told…and with 'The Bible' series, we really tried to get the very best," she added, crediting the entire production cast and crew for their work. "It was a quality production of a great story really well-told."
It probably did not hurt that Burnett and Downey are Christians (one Protestant, the other Roman Catholic) and used their connections with some of U.S. evangelical Christianity's biggest names (Joel Osteen, Rick Warren, and T.D. Jakes to name a few) to make sure word got out and that the faithful tuned in, and boy did they tune in.
The History Channel had never seen such viewer numbers in all its 18-year history, and even experienced a sudden boost in reputation among Christians thanks to the series. Now, NBC is hoping to ride "The Bible" series' wave of success, after losing the bidding war for the original series, with a follow-up production slated to pick up where "The Bible" left off. The project, tentatively titled "AD: Beyond the Bible," "could conceivably attract an even bigger crowd than did the original, by virtue of moving to broadcast TV," according to Deadline.
Eying an even bigger wave, "The Bible" series team also has teamed up with 20th Century Fox for distribution of "Son of God," a pared-down theatrical feature of the 10-hour series' Jesus narrative that could hit theaters next Spring.
As conservative family entertainment website Movieguide.com shows with its list of "Top Biblical Epics," the Bible has long been an inspiration for filmmakers big and small, foreign and domestic (1964 Italian film "The Gospel According to St. Matthew" is no. 1, with Disney's "Prince of Egypt" ranked as no. 3). But, as the list also shows, the closer filmmakers stick to "the script" (the Biblical text), the more likely the project is to be a hit. And it doesn't hurt if Christians helm the projects.
Phil Cooke, who helps churches and nonprofits "not suck at the media" through Cooke Pictures, has worked alongside Grace Hill Media, a major marketing bridge between big studios and Christians. He has advised filmmakers on how to reach that core Christian audience.
Cooke, who has been called "the only working producer in Hollywood with a Ph.D. in Theology," schooled The Christian Post on the history of Bible-based films.
"In the early part of the 20th century, roughly 1899-1914, the Church actually produced more movies than Hollywood," the director/producer told CP via email. "Hollywood caught up, and when more overt sexual, violence, and crude behavior became more popular in Hollywood films, the Church eventually back(ed) away leaving a void."
Cooke added that, over the years, "there were a few significant Christian attempts" to rekindle the romance between Hollywood and Bible-based feature films.
Not "until Mel Gibson's 'Passion of the Christ' did we see a Christian-driven film get such attention from Hollywood," said Cooke. "I think the entire film industry was rather shocked to learn there was such a large audience that took their faith seriously and wanted to see films that did the same.
"Now, we're simply seeing the rebirth of what happened in the early days of the movie business. Obviously some of the projects aren't terribly well produced, but we're seeing enough success that Hollywood has been impressed by the response."
"The Passion of the Christ" has grossed more than $611 million worldwide and remains the top-grossing Christian film of all time. Not long after Gibson's 2004 feature starring an effective Jim Caviezel as Jesus, headlines buzzed about Hollywood's rekindled interest in the Christian market. There was even a panel discussion at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival on "What Would Jesus… Direct?" A report on the panel claimed the "religious product market is an $8 billion a year business," while 2011 figures suggest that Christians in the U.S. spend $1.5 trillion annually.
