What are the motives behind the Christian movie boom

The folks at Think Christian are wondering what everyone thinks is the true motive behind the sudden realization in Hollywood that there might be an audience for big-screen Christian-themed films.

I’m thinking that 2004 didn’t signal some great philosophical or moral change in the thinking of studios. They saw the money The Passion of the Christ made and wanted to tap into that. It’s the same reason there are spikes of movies about tornadoes or earthquakes. Someone has a good idea, it makes money and others think they can reinvent that formula. I think some people were honestly surprised that churchgoers would also go to the movies and want to capitalize on that new insight.

That being said, I agree with some of the comments on that post about how God will use even cynical and selfishly motivated acts to spread His word. If the Gospel is being spoken then I have no problem with the motivations behind it – as long as it’s the true Word. The marketing of these movies has been enough to raise awareness of the films and for the most part at least make some decent money so there should be more of them coming.

While a host of studios now feel that they need to get churches involved in the marketing of the movies, even ones that aren’t based on Bible stories, it’s the churches that need to watch out. They need to make sure their role isn’t being corrupted and they don’t become servants of the studios. That’s the real danger.