US sellers of faith- and values-based films eye international market

Storming to $370m on the North American field workplace and $611m worldwide again in 2004, The Ardour Of The Christ would possibly by no means be surpassed on the summit of faith-based cinema. After Mel Gibson’s interpretation of the ultimate hours of Jesus Christ got here out, unbiased movies about spirituality, religion and faith went largely quiet for a decade, however releases from the foremost studios resembling The Nativity Story by means of New Line in 2006 and Brave by means of TriStar Footage in 2011.

Then, in 2014, Freestyle Releasing and Pure Flix — which rebranded as Pinnacle Peak Footage in 2021 after Sony’s Affirm Movies acquired the Pure Flix model and streaming service the yr earlier than — distributed God’s Not Useless. The $60m North American gross spawned a franchise that has generated greater than $100m worldwide and endures to at the present time.

Since then, faith- and values-based cinema has been on the comeback path. The time period is a nebulous catch-all encompassing overtly non secular and religion tales that, when advertising and marketing executives wish to attraction to wider audiences, bleeds right into a broader motion described as amplifying inspirational and constructive narratives.

Within the intervening years, a wholesome crop of titles, together with Summit Leisure’s The Shack, I Can Solely Think about launched by means of Roadside Points of interest, and Jesus Revolution from Lionsgate companion Kingdom Story Firm, a big participant within the area, have made waves on the field workplace.

Final yr, Sound Of Freedom, a drama a couple of vigilante who rescues youngsters from sex-trafficking rings that starred Jim Caviezel, who performed Jesus in The Ardour Of The Christ, grossed $185m in North America and $250m worldwide. An enormous hit, it shone a light-weight on Angel Studios, which launched in 2013 and had early success with its acclaimed sequence The Chosen.

Quick-forward one yr and the Angel Studios senior govt staff has been ramping up theatrical operations, releasing movies resembling Cabrini and Sound Of Hope: The Story Of Possum Trot this yr, and beefing up its business profile at CinemaCon, Cannes and, most lately, Mipcom.

This week the corporate, which distributes in North America, handles territory gross sales, and operates a streaming platform, has been at AFM to debate advertising and marketing technique with companions in its nascent worldwide output community spanning Europe, South America and Africa on the historic biopic Bonhoeffer (opening within the US on November 22) and bull-riding drama The Final Rodeo (Could 2025), and have interaction with consumers in accessible territories.

In the meantime, Pinnacle Peak Footage, the market stalwart behind God’s Not Useless and movies resembling The Case For Christ, Man Of God and Lifemark, has been touting a roster led by new Biblical drama The Final Supper forward of an Easter 2025 US launch.

“Our mission is to inform tales that amplify gentle,” says Jared Geesey, Angel Studios chief distribution officer. “That doesn’t imply all of them should be faith-based. Our first unique sequence was truly Dry Bar Comedy, which is simply stand-up comedy. Our mission of telling tales that amplify gentle is far broader than solely faith-based content material.”

After Dry Bar Comedy got here The Chosen, a drama sequence about Christ. Geesey, who constructed the ChristianCinema.com transactional VoD platform in 2014, assembled a community of greater than 100 distribution and licensing companions in 27 international locations for The Chosen. He says views for the present reached 420 million immediately by means of Angel Studios’ platform. Three episodes have been launched theatrically by means of Fathom Occasions and earned $34m.

Angel Studios is headed by brothers Neal, Jeffrey, Daniel and Jordan Harmon, and their cousin Benton Crane. Regardless of being headquartered in Utah, Geesey says it isn’t a Mormon enterprise, including: “We’re a various firm with a shared mission that I believe a number of individuals are on the lookout for — values-based content material that can affect and take care of tradition.”

The output community contains Paris Filmes in Brazil, A Contracorriente in Spain, Nos Lusomundo in Portugal, Santa Barbara Movies in Colombia, Neema Media in Benelux, FilmOne in Ghana, Liberia and Nigeria, and Blitz in Croatia and former Yugoslavia. The objective is to develop the community and additional companions will likely be introduced in the end.

Angel traders

To find out which tasks to board as distributor, Angel Studios makes use of its Angel Guild, a tastemaker neighborhood that has grown to round 400,000 members worldwide who may also make investments, though that isn’t a prerequisite. So far it has invested $80m. “We hope to increase that mannequin internationally,” says Geesey.

The agency additionally makes use of a pay-it-forward technique on releases, which permits filmgoers to purchase tickets for many who could not be capable to afford them.

He cites this yr’s The International Religion And Leisure Research, a report from consultancy HarrisX in collaboration with the Religion & Media Initiative that canvassed 10,000 leisure shoppers throughout 11 international locations and located, amongst different issues, that 73% of respondents described themselves as religious, non secular or an individual of religion.

“Once I see that, and I see the overlap with our mission of tales that amplify gentle, there’s only a [misunderstanding] on the market,” he says. “Religion content material is mainstream content material for world audiences. That’s a large underserved viewers and the concept tales of religion are only for center America will not be true.”

Apart from North America, Geesey says Sound Of Freedom carried out effectively throughout Latin America (the place it grossed round $40m), Australia and Spain, and even did “pretty effectively” within the UK on round $2.7m. The movie has been linked to far-right QAnon conspiracy theories, however director Alejandro Monteverde strongly rejects this accusation, regardless of lead actor Caviezel repeating a number of the QAnon claims.

Bonhoeffer writer-director Todd Komarnicki, who co-wrote Sully and The Professor And The Madman, doesn’t assume his movie is faith-based and places it within the broader class of inspirational tales. Jonas Dassler stars as German Lutheran pastor and Nazi critic Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was a part of a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. “Folks wish to be impressed and take into consideration deep points,” says Komarnicki. “Bonhoeffer has lots in it that’s fairly unhappy, nevertheless it additionally leaves individuals with a way of hope and a manner to take a look at life by means of a special lens.”

Komarnicki shot Bonhoeffer in Belgium and Eire and wrapped in early 2023. The movie was funded by former American Customary CEO Emmanuel Kampouris and his spouse Camille, a former Muppeteer and board member of the net theo­logical studios website Biblemesh. Komarnicki says she didn’t search to exert affect on how he advised the story.

Angel acquired Bonhoeffer in November 2023 with the endorsement of the Angel Guild. “The principle factor I like about Angel is that they’re dedicated to the theatrical mannequin,” he says, including, “They didn’t shrink back from the depth of this Nazi-era story that has a number of heartbreak in it.”

Pinnacle Peak is a champion of unbiased faith-based tales and in addition stays dedicated to theatrical. “We’re an old-school, basic, all‑in-one indie firm,” says Ron Gell, vice chairman of worldwide gross sales. Gell will likely be screening The Final Supper on the market, Mauro Borrelli’s drama concerning the tensions and intrigue main as much as the Biblical occasion. Mark Freiburger’s Between Borders is one other main gross sales push and tells the true story of an Armenian household pressured to flee their residence in the course of the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Pinnacle Peak will even be screening the fifth instalment of its God’s Not Useless sequence at AFM, God’s Not Useless: In God We Belief, which opened within the US in September and has earned near $4m. Forty-Seven Days With Jesus and Disciples In The Moonlight are additionally on the roster.

“This faith-based enterprise is a patchwork quilt,” says Gell. “Jap European Christians reply in another way to a specific story than Asian Christians do, who reply in another way to Latin American Christians, who reply in another way to American Christians.”

One current spotlight has been The Blind, which Gell licensed to Sony Footage Worldwide Acquisitions final yr and grossed $17m in North America.

“Latin America is a super-strong marketplace for us, as are South Korea and Australia and New Zealand,” he says. Pinnacle Peak has labored with California Filmes in Latin America, Crossroads in Australia and numerous distributors in South Korea.

“Once I landed in Cannes 2014 with God’s Not Useless, there had been no faith-based films launched theatrically in worldwide markets since The Ardour Of The Christ,” says Gell. “We planted a flag and got down to create a faith-based enterprise, and we’re nonetheless cooking.”

Prime 10 unbiased faith-based movies 2019 to current

Supply: Comscore