PureFlix Entertainment co-founder David A.R. White has lamented that faith-based audiences are being largely ignored by Hollywood despite being a large demographic, and this has been evident in the success of the "God's Not Dead" franchise.
In an interview with "Fox & Friends" on Sunday, White spoke about the box office success of various faith-based films, and surmised that Hollywood has been ignoring churchgoers who also want to see films related to their faith.
"There's a stat that says 100 million people go to church once a month. Hollywood for a long time kind of forgot that people have a desire for faith, have a desire to go to films that uplift and inspire the human spirit, and that's what we're finding out right now," White said.
"These faith films are in the market place, the numbers are extraordinary, and realizing more and more that this is something that people want," he added.
White also discussed how his latest film "God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness" helps people open up conversations about their beliefs at a time when Americans are divided by politics.
The actor-producer said that the film delves into difficult subjects, and asks questions like "is God good all the time?" He suggested such themes could start conversations and help people to "stop yelling and start listening."
The first two installments of "God's Not Dead" were box office hits, with the original grossing over $64.7 million and its sequel earning $24.5 million. The third film, which opened in theaters last week, has so far earned $2.6 million.
White, who played Reverend Dave in all three films, told the Metro.us that he has not considered the possibility of making a fourth-film. "We always knew that we wanted to make three of them. This is the third one. Whether or not this is the last one or not, I honestly don't know. We have just all been focusing on this film," the producer said.
The producer emphasized that he wanted the third installment of the franchise to have a specific purpose and he also wanted it to be culturally relevant and unique.
In a separate interview with Metro.us, White explained that he started PureFlix after he began acting in faith-based films that had few distribution outlets.
"We just felt like there was a void there, and something that was needed. So we started Pure Flix to be that conduit for producers and their films," he said.
