The Dating Game
It’s hard to make a date these days. Everyone is so busy that you have to sync your Palm Pilots, double-check the kids’ sports’ calendars, and set the Ti-Vo before you can have lunch with someone. It’s more like a negotiation than a furtherance of a friendship.
The same is true of films. Part of my job is to know what movies are coming out in theaters and when they’re going to be available on DVD. Just when I think I have a handle on what movies are coming out when, someone goes and messes with my Palm Pilot! Want some examples?
The Last Sin Eater was originally due to release in theaters on February 16th. I know, because we had plans to go see the movie and then go to dinner afterward (Mexican food, I think). Then the first week of February the release date for “The Last Sin Eater” changed to February 9th. Calendars had to be checked and re-checked. Why?
Because Amazing Grace was scheduled to premiere on Friday, February 23. The theory is that the millions of people who classify themselves as Christians will all want to go to the same movies. I’m a little analytical, so I tend to think about things from a numbers perspective. According to a 2001 survey, 77% of the U.S. population (159 million people) identified themselves as Christians. In that same year, 1.49 billion tickets were purchased for movie admission.
I looked at 7 faith-based movies from 2006 - early 2007. (Facing the Giants, One Night with the King, The Nativity Story, Thr3e, The Last Sin Eater, Amazing Grace, The Ultimate Gift)
After doing a couple of simple mathematical equations (let me know if you want the formulas!), I determined that there are enough theaters in the United States that each person who claims Christianity could have seen these films 6 times. The facts speak for themselves. Go ahead and put out a couple of good Christian movies at a time. We’ll go see them!
In fact - I think we’d all agree that every time we open up the newspaper or go online, we’d like to see a couple of good Christian movies to choose from. We’ll go see them! We may not all go see every one, but with 159 million people ready to go, the audience is definitely there.
