Twentieth Century Fox, the studio known for such television shows as The Simpsons, Prison Break and Celebrity Duets, and for the Star Wars movies, has announced a new division directed to a Christian audience. FoxFaith will release up to a dozen religious-themed films each year, with budgets ranging from $3-million to $20-million. Most of these will be released directly to DVD, though some might be available in local theatres.
Fox vice president Jeff Yordy said, “We simply recognized that there was a hugely under-served audience and seized the opportunity to provide them with high-quality entertainment that reflects their values. As a result, we've seen explosive growth in this marketplace over the past few years, which only proves to us that we're successfully tapping into our core constituency.”
Fox distributed The Passion of the Christ, selling 15 million DVD units. The Mel Gibson movie is seen as a watershed in marketing to Christians. It grossed nearly $400-million in the US alone, and nearly twice that much internationally and through DVD sales. It is now among the top-ten grossing American movies. Sony was involved in the third movie in the Left Behind series and will be distributing movies by a Christian production company. Despite the overt Christian themes in Disney's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the movie grossed nearly $800-million worldwide.
“That's the mission: quality, story-driven entertainment that meshes with the values of our target audience,” Yordy said. “But it's entertainment first. We're not in the business of proselytizing.” – Los Angeles Times, ENI, Filmsite.org
