God's Not Dead producer: People of faith are 'waiting' for movies that align with their values

God is Not Dead stars Shane Harper as Josh Wheaton (Photo: PureFlix)

The producer of God's Not Dead believes the demand is there for Hollywood to make even more faith-based films.

2014 has been a bumper year for faith-related cinema offerings, with Son of God, God's Not Dead, Heaven is For Real, and Noah out in the first half of the year – and the latter three still sitting in the US box office top 20.

Of course, Christians differ in their views on how Christian – and how good – they think the films are. But if nothing else, they certainly give the churchgoing community a lot to chew over.

And later this year, there will be another cinema talking point for Christians with the release of Ridley Scott's Exodus, due out in December and starring Christian Bale.

God's Not Dead producer Michael Scott and the movie production company he manages, Pure Flix, are still riding high on the success of the Christian film that cost $4 million to make and went on to take in $60 million in the US.

But Pure Flix is not resting on its laurels. It's already pulling plans together for what it hopes will be its next big box office success, Believe, a film about the cross that is due to commence production in 2015.

Speaking at Variety magazine's Purpose Summit in LA on Thursday, Scott made it clear they have plenty more up their sleeve.

He says there are enough faith-based consumers out there to make the sector anything but "niche".

"If you drill down deep and you find the content that they're looking for, you're going to be hugely successful," he said, according to Variety.

"We're talking 100 million people plus. [Faith-based] people are waiting to be served content that aligns with their values."

And it's resonating with these values that Pure Flix has in mind with its movie productions. Scott says the message comes ahead of the story in the list of priorities and to make sure they're getting that message right, they asked the views of over 10,000 pastors.

"The engine that drives the train is the message," he said.

"We start with the message and build the story around it. [The] trickiest part is how to you bring the story and message together. We've seen so many films with great stories but they miss their mark.

"You will have a success if you can wrap [the message] up in a great story. When the message and entertainment come together seamlessly, that's when it really works."

Secular critics may have booed God's Not Dead from the sidelines, but its box office sales suggest Scott and the team are right on this.

related articles
Duck Dynasty\'s Willie and Korie Robertson star in new movie, God\'s Not Dead
Duck Dynasty's Willie and Korie Robertson star in new movie, God's Not Dead

Duck Dynasty's Willie and Korie Robertson star in new movie, God's Not Dead

Are we too cynical for our faith? God\'s Not Dead leaves me with much to ponder...
Are we too cynical for our faith? God's Not Dead leaves me with much to ponder...

Are we too cynical for our faith? God's Not Dead leaves me with much to ponder...

News
Being people of peace
Being people of peace

It would be fair to say that the pace and complexity of life works against us finding any peace.

Christians and religious nones alike object to AI-generated social media videos
Christians and religious nones alike object to AI-generated social media videos

Evangelicals, nones and non-denominational Christians reject AI-generated videos, a new study has found.

What we don’t know about Christmas
What we don’t know about Christmas

Every Christmas people are bombarded with images of the Nativity in Christmas cards, the lyrics of songs and Nativity plays. Yet many of the images embedded in our minds are pure tradition. In fact, there is a lot that we do not know. This is the story … 

Richard Moth appointed as new Archbishop of Westminster
Richard Moth appointed as new Archbishop of Westminster

Bishop Richard Moth has been confirmed as the new Archbishop of Westminster, the most senior post in the Catholic Church in England and Wales.