“Fireproof” Beats Out “Religulous”
A discussion this morning about the box office success of the film Fireproof started my wheels turning. My colleague Jared sees the theatrical success of this film as a step in defining a specific niche or genre for theater-goers. Much has been said, both positive and negative, about the film (both its story and execution) and the acting. Is it a step up for films with a Christian message, or is it a step down?
It’s a step forward, I think. The box office results ($12.4 million cumulative after 2 weekends) show that Fireproof is reaching a market that is willing to brave the cost of a theater ticket to see a film. And, once having seen the film, the majority of those watching become evangelists for the film, inviting all their friends to see it. It’s spreading out to audiences in a way that few Hollywood films do - by word of mouth.
Bill Maher’s film “Religulous” came in two places behind Fireproof, with gross sales of $3.4 million. Will its audience grow? Did people rush out of the theater and call their best friends on the way home, urging them to go see it? I don’t know. Next weekend will tell.
What the Kendrick brothers have tapped into with their films is that segment of the audience that wants Christian messages in movies. They want to see their values reflected on the screen. They want happy endings. They want the presence of Christ in a person’s life to make a significant difference, and they want Hollywood to know that.
Will movies in this genre become huge blockbusters making hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office? Will Christians come out and spend at the theater to see these films in the same way that millions of people saw the film “Knocked Up?” (which had a box office total of almost $150 million)
I don’t know if we’ll ever vote that strongly with our wallets. If Christianity really is the dominant religion in the United States, you’d think more people would watch a movie that reflects their values than one that tromps all over them. But maybe the audience is less predictable than we think.
In terms of the film’s financial success of Fireproof, the film-makers will only further up the ante and drive the field of excellence in terms of technical ability (which is one of the reasons why many ‘elite’ Christians will not see this movie - at the same time these same ‘elite’ Christians will consume the Hollywood movies that offer nothing eternally lasting for the most part)but the argument has been that storytelling is not real enough or emotionally gritty and does not contain enough character depth to produce multi-dimensional characters. That said I am much more concerned that they do not lose, diminish and negate the spiritual responsibility they have towards the Lord and His people and those He wants to reach out to through their films. I really want them to never forget their ‘first love’ to the Lord and that they will continue to excel spiritually as well as technically in terms of storytelling, production, post-production and business & marketing of their movies. Their movies touch the heart and I have seen that firsthand like no other movie has done - especially when we watched the movie Facing The Giants with some children who were not Christians!
October 8th, 2008 at 6:57 am
Christians ARE the dominant religious group in this country, and they DO vote with their wallets. I would wager that a large portion of the people who paid to see “Knocked Up” or “Batman” show up to church at least once a week. These are people who will go to see an expressly Christian movie for the same reason anyone goes to see any hollywood movie - marketing, stars, and production value. We know that they will come to the theatre, and pay $10 to see films with a message if they have some kind of cache behind them: Passion, Evan Almighty, the Nativity Story, One Night with the King. All these films had multi-million dollar box office receipts that make the two week totals for Fireproof look like lunch money. The problem is that these films have watered down to the Christian message so much that its hard to relate to the characters as anything besides, well, characters in a movie. They have little relativity to the modern day lives of people of faith.
Now I dont want to belie what FP has done. The Kendricks continue to make films that speak to us today and are not afraid to praise Jesus on the silver screen, something which scares studio producers to death. Hopefully those FP per-screen averages will help them get over that fear. The key is to marry the Kendricks’ dedication to Christ centered narratives with a real production budget, and more importantly, a real marketing budget. I believe that with their latest effort, they have brought us several steps closer to this eventuality.
If the Kendrick’s (or anyone) applied this formula, I believe they would have tremendous returns at the BO. If that’s what’s important to them.
October 8th, 2008 at 9:28 am
Is it a step up for films with a Christian message, or is it a step down? - This is an interesting article from World Magazine on wondering if Christians have lowered the bar in their critique of the film:
http://online.worldmag.com/2008/10/07/fireproof-shouldnt-be-critic-proof/
October 10th, 2008 at 5:33 am
Well done Tom for the article reference. I actually enjoyed reading the comments more than the article itself. If only Christians were locusts when it comes to a common cause regarding the Gospel? But for now I truly appreciate the concerted efforts of the Kendrick Brothers and their church Sherwood Baptist in the media. I will support them and I will encourage other Christians to do so no matter their tastes in regards to film.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:10 am
But I am happy there is a debate on this movie whether some Christians hate it and some love it - people are definitely noticing and in that comes the questions and curiosity from those who have not seen it whether Christians or not and that is a good thing. One thing is for sure I would love to be in the shoes of the Kendrick Brothers enjoying near global success in the movie business with just three movies within just three years!!! PHENOMENAL!!!!!!!!
October 10th, 2008 at 8:31 am
It was an ok movie with a great message. Honestly, it was maybe a step or two above the best of the Billy Graham movies of the 70’s as far as production quality.
Hopefully, they won’t stop improving. Personally, I think we need to be careful about the story being a slave to the message, it makes it feel like propaganda. Hopefully we can get to Francis Schaeffer’s “Good art with a good message”.
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:03 am