“Fireproof” and “Billy” – Too Many Christian Films at One Time?
This town ain’t big enough for the both of us! In an article at Christianity Today, producer Larry Mortorff (Billy: The Early Years) is quoted as saying that “Maybe the Christian world can only take one Christian film at a time, and Fireproof may have taken that spot,” to explain the poor performance of “Billy: The Early Years” at the box office. He went on to say that they’re considering a second theatrical release in hopes of improving their audience.
In an interview with me, Bill McKay, who also produced the film, said one of the goals of the film was to reach out beyond the Christian movie-goers and reach a secular audience with the story of Billy Graham. Christian film-goers can’t be blamed for the slow performance of this film if it wasn’t marketed strongly to them. Theatrical distribution was limited to the Bible belt areas of the Southeastern part of the United States, where it was assumed the name of Billy Graham would be enough to draw an audience to see the film.
There are plenty of Christians who go to see films that they can stand to have multiple choices for films in one weekend. Look at the number of people in the United States who identify themselves as Christians (more than 70%) and look at box office stats. 100% of movie ticket sales cannot be attributed to 30% of the country’s population, so Christians are going to films and they’re going in droves.
Fireproof was released on September 26, Billy: The Early Years was released on October 10, so they were not in head-to-head competition. Fireproof did open on considerably more screens across a bigger geographic area, and had a much longer and broader-reaching marketing effort than Billy. Also, Fireproof is building on the previous year’s success of Facing the Giants, and came out in an election year when marriage initiatives were hotly contested in three major states.
When I read blogs and articles about Christian films, I see people asking for more and more films from a faith perspective. They are ready to support multiple films. So if a movie doesn’t succeed, don’t point a finger at the audience. Look at your strategies and releasing decisions and make sure they’re the best they can be.
I haven’t seen either one, so I can’t really base an opinion either way on this film, but could it be that “Billy” just wasn’t a good movie? I had also read that this film was not entirely based on Mr. Graham’s actual life and had some fictional elements thrown in to make the story “interesting.”
So don’t just blame the audience when all is not well, you might want to take a look at not only the strategies in a release but also the quality of the product. Maybe it’s something that no one is asking for.
November 12th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Hi Mark -
Good point. I haven’t seen Billy either – it didn’t release in our area. You might want to read my interview with Bill McKay, one of the producers. He talks about the film & its creation. – who they were trying to reach, etc.
November 12th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
And also with the Billy Graham Family not totally in agreement with the movie this may also have slighted its success factor as well. I think Franklin Graham was quite vocal about his disappointment with the movie. I am not sure who they consulted but it would have been good to have had the support of the entire Billy Graham Family (there is power in agreement) from the onset which would have made for a stronger pre-marketing campaign effort ensuring a good audience turnout of pre-ticket sales and made the audiences feel better about seeing the movie. For that amount of money invested in the movie it would have been highly advisable working with the support of the Billy Graham family with their prayers backing it – effective strategy when combined with hard work.
November 14th, 2008 at 4:22 am
I have seen both “Fireproof” and “Billy”. There were several issues with “Billy” that caused it’s failure: 1) Very little marketing to churches to get pastors pushing this film. 2) Some scenes in the movie that were just plain silly. 3) A movie that showed more of a historical timeline of Graham’s life than a more human approach showing his heartfelt joys and deepest wounds while in the ministry.
With the success of “Fireproof”, Christian filmmakers are going to have to learn Sherwood’s grassroots approach to marketing. You’ve got to forego the traditional Hollywood means of putting out trailers and posters mostly. You’ve got to get word of mouth advertising. Without it, theaters are not going to be packed even for the better films coming out. “Fireproof” also had something “Billy” did not–characters that felt strangely familiar because we’ve all either been these people or know someone like these people. The characters in “Fireproof” felt more like family. That will drive the success of any film Christian or not–characters that feel real.
November 17th, 2008 at 8:22 am
i working on a flim in Daytona maybe like the others have said
l;ack of content and many are just not interested we already know about Billy. how many shows do u have to make and why
are they really in touch with the Holy Spirit or just have the money and power to make a movie
tell them to come help me
November 24th, 2008 at 11:01 am
I also have seen both movies, though I got lucky with the billy movie. The film was not paying anywhere close to me and I live in a Large city. I got lucky when a film festival came to town. I would have to agree that a big part is marketing, this is the only way to get films out there to be seen. Fireproof spent much more this time than last and I think it paid off.
There are many new Christian films coming out each year now, just look on the Coming Movies Page on CFDb
http://christianfilmdatabase.com/ComingMovies.html
You will see many films you never heard of coming soon or next year sometime, most of them don’t do near enough marketing so Christians don’t know about them. And when they do come out, they are only in a few theaters.
I’m all for more Christian Movies coming to theaters, My wife and I will go to them all! keep them coming Guys!
November 28th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
I saw Billy and thought it was great. I’m looking for DVD’s to give for Christmas. I think the title kept some people away, as it sounded like one more documentary about Billy Graham. We Christians love him, but thought we had seen everything there was to say about his life. This film was totally different, not only because it was told from the perspective of an atheist, but in content. If they rerelease it, I think a more compelling title might draw in more people.
December 9th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Hi Carol,
What Kind of movies are you looking for? There are so many Good ones, it’s hard to list just a few.
These Movies just came out and I thought they were all good.
“Come What May”
“All Things New”
“Pendragon: Sword of His Father”
“Dangerous Calling” Also has a very good short film on it.
December 13th, 2008 at 6:23 am
I agree with Leslie. I live near the Grahams and know they didn’t approve the film. But I’m sure marketing has a lot to do with its success or not. I believe Fireproof set a new standard for marketing. It was mostly grassroots and word of mouth. That’s how they got so many more theaters to run the film was by people asking for the film. Theaters are there to make money and the more people they had asking for the film, the more theaters it was going to be shown in.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Sherwood Pictures are great in producing good, Christian films. I enjoyed seeing “Facing the Giants” and “Fireproof” and hope to see “Flywheel” sometime in the future. I am excited that the dvd of “Fireproof’ will be released soon. Some of the adults at my church at currently doing the “Fireproof Your Marriage” bible study. It has been very well attended.
For those who enjoy the Love Comes Softly series by Janette Oke, all of the movies based on the books have been very enjoyable. Will any more of them be made?
“Billy Graham: the Early Years” looked really good in the previews but am a bit disappointed that it won’t be shown at any more theaters. On the upside though It’s great to see a bunch of Christian films produced in a short amount of time.
January 26th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
The 7th movie based on the Janette Oke series is “Love Takes Wing.” Stars Haylie Duff (Hilary’s sister), and probable broadcast date on Hallmark Channel is May 5.
January 26th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
This is great news, My mom loves the Janette Oke series, she keeps asking me when they will make a new one.
February 1st, 2009 at 3:22 pm