Christian Cinema - What would Jesus watch?
Christian Cinema (WWJW?) I was kind of hoping I'd never have to start this blog. Up until 2008, the core audience for Christian cinema has been more interested in watching their favorite "selected/censored" DVDs at home rather than flocking to the cinema (with the major exception of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" several years ago (it grossed over $370 mill domestic & over $600 mill Worldwide).
But last weekend (9/28/08) something almost miraculous occurred at the boxoffice. A movie in only 839 theaters cracked the top 5 (#4 to be exact), a feat only non-secular fare (like the "Borat" mockumentary) and controversial Michael Moore docu's have managed over the years.
ALL-TIME Faith-based Boxoffice CHAMPS!
1. The Passion of the Christ
Release Date: February 25, 2004 - Distributor: Newmarket - Budget: $30 million
Gross: $370.8 million
2. Courageous
Release Date: September 30, 2011 - Distributor: TriStar - Budget: $2 million
Gross: $34.5 million
3. Fireproof
Release Date: September 26, 2008 - Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn - Budget: $500,000
Gross: $33.5 million
4. The Omega Code
Release Date: October 15, 1999 - Distributor: Providence - Budget: $7.6 million
Gross: $12.6 million
5. Facing The Giants
Release Date: February 25, 2004 - Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn - Budget: $100,000
Gross: $10.2 million
Full article @ IndieWire.com
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"Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come.
It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it."
FIREPROOF
Starring: Kirk Cameron
[(2008)USA/IDP/Rated PG]
Logline Synopsis : In an attempt to save his marriage, A firefighter uses a 40-day experiment known as "The Love Dare".
MOVIE website
One trivia note (from IMDbPRO.com): Kirk Cameron, a Christian evangelist, refuses to kiss any woman other than his wife. To film a scene in which his character in this movie kisses his wife, the filmmakers had to dress Cameron's real-life wife, Chelsea Noble, as the wife character (played throughout the rest of the movie by Erin Bethea) and shoot the kissing scene in shadow so the difference between Noble and Bethea would not be as evident on screen.
Now THAT'S a REAL marriage, eh? Most actors use their profession as a license to cheat and this guy drags his one-&-only to the set for a "kissing" scene. Who'd have ever thought that honor and art could exist side by side. Kudos to Kirk for being the first actor I can think of to actually pull off such a stunt, even if it was in the name of his Christian wedding vows.
Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn
Release Date: September 26, 2008
Running Time: 2 hrs. 2 min.
MPAA Rating: PG
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With "Fireproof," Christian cinema was blessed with its first certified low-budget "indie" hit in 2008, a miraculous feat which bodes well for the secular familiy-oriented genre as a whole. Hopefully this breakout success will draw in marquee talent as well as A-list writers, directors, & producers.
Many of you may consider Hollywood to be atheistic at best with no business making Christian-oriented dramas, but in the final analysis they all worship MONEY out there in Tinseltown! And in 2008, one Christian-produced film made plenty of that:
Domestic Total as of Dec. 28, 2008: $33,149,106
Production Budget: $500,000
Anyway I'll try to follow ALL of the available Christian movies emanating from usual sources like BIGGER PICTURE productions and FOXfaith, as well as films more in the mainstream that may qualify as quasi-Christian fare.
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But last weekend (9/28/08) something almost miraculous occurred at the boxoffice. A movie in only 839 theaters cracked the top 5 (#4 to be exact), a feat only non-secular fare (like the "Borat" mockumentary) and controversial Michael Moore docu's have managed over the years.
ALL-TIME Faith-based Boxoffice CHAMPS!
1. The Passion of the Christ
Release Date: February 25, 2004 - Distributor: Newmarket - Budget: $30 million
Gross: $370.8 million
2. Courageous
Release Date: September 30, 2011 - Distributor: TriStar - Budget: $2 million
Gross: $34.5 million
3. Fireproof
Release Date: September 26, 2008 - Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn - Budget: $500,000
Gross: $33.5 million
4. The Omega Code
Release Date: October 15, 1999 - Distributor: Providence - Budget: $7.6 million
Gross: $12.6 million
5. Facing The Giants
Release Date: February 25, 2004 - Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn - Budget: $100,000
Gross: $10.2 million
Full article @ IndieWire.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come.
It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it."
FIREPROOF
Starring: Kirk Cameron
[(2008)USA/IDP/Rated PG]
Logline Synopsis : In an attempt to save his marriage, A firefighter uses a 40-day experiment known as "The Love Dare".
MOVIE website
One trivia note (from IMDbPRO.com): Kirk Cameron, a Christian evangelist, refuses to kiss any woman other than his wife. To film a scene in which his character in this movie kisses his wife, the filmmakers had to dress Cameron's real-life wife, Chelsea Noble, as the wife character (played throughout the rest of the movie by Erin Bethea) and shoot the kissing scene in shadow so the difference between Noble and Bethea would not be as evident on screen.
Now THAT'S a REAL marriage, eh? Most actors use their profession as a license to cheat and this guy drags his one-&-only to the set for a "kissing" scene. Who'd have ever thought that honor and art could exist side by side. Kudos to Kirk for being the first actor I can think of to actually pull off such a stunt, even if it was in the name of his Christian wedding vows.
Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn
Release Date: September 26, 2008
Running Time: 2 hrs. 2 min.
MPAA Rating: PG
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
With "Fireproof," Christian cinema was blessed with its first certified low-budget "indie" hit in 2008, a miraculous feat which bodes well for the secular familiy-oriented genre as a whole. Hopefully this breakout success will draw in marquee talent as well as A-list writers, directors, & producers.
Many of you may consider Hollywood to be atheistic at best with no business making Christian-oriented dramas, but in the final analysis they all worship MONEY out there in Tinseltown! And in 2008, one Christian-produced film made plenty of that:
Domestic Total as of Dec. 28, 2008: $33,149,106
Production Budget: $500,000
Anyway I'll try to follow ALL of the available Christian movies emanating from usual sources like BIGGER PICTURE productions and FOXfaith, as well as films more in the mainstream that may qualify as quasi-Christian fare.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
(2010)-Preacher's Kid is Now Playing in select theaters!!!
Preacher's Kid
Written & Directed by Stan Foster
Starring: Letoya Luckett as 'Angie'
[(2010)USA/Gener8XionEnt./Rated PG-13] - (hr min)
Synopsis: Tired of being a Preacher's daughter and longing to experience more of life, 20-something ANGIE KING (Letoya Luckett) strikes out on her own for the very first time and joins a traveling gospel show. In this modern-day rendition of the fable of The Prodigal Son, she soon discovers life on the road is tough but fears going home with nothing to show for herself, or worse, to a father who no longer loves her...
MOVIE website-http://www.preacherskidmovie.com/
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Still PLAYING in 2nd-run theaters!!!
... check local listings for a theater near you ...
April 2, 2010
Cinemark Willoughby Hills Movies 10 (Wickliffe,OH)
Cinemark Movies 10 (Joliet,IL)
Cinemark Movies 16 (San Antonio,TX)
Cinemark Movies 10 (Brownsville,TX)
Cinemark Movies 12 (Laredo,TX)
HELD OVER:
Cinemark Movies 16 Warren (Warren,MI)
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(2010 release)-TO SAVE A LIFE is Now Playing in select theaters!!!
To Save A Life
Director: Bryan Baugh
Written by Jim Britts
Starring: Randy Wayne, Deja Kreutzberg, Joshua Weigel, Kim Hidalgo, Sean Michael Afable, Robert Bailey, & Steven Crowder
[(2009)USA/IDP-Samuel Goldwyn] - (2 hrs)
Synopsis: Jake Taylor (Randy Wayne) has it all: friends, fame a basketball scholarship and the hottest girl in school. What could be better? Enter Roger Dawson (Robert Bailey Jr.). Roger has nothing. No friends. No hope. Nothing but putdowns and getting pushed aside. Things couldn’t get worse…could they?
Jake and Roger were best friends when they were kids. But the politics of high school quickly pulled them apart. Now Roger doesn’t fit in Jake’s – or anyone’s circle – and he’s had enough. He walks onto camus with a gun in his pocket and pain in his heart and makes a tragic move.
Jake’s last-ditch effort can’t stop Roger, and the sudden tragedy rocks Jake’s world. Something breaks loose inside and sends him questioning everything. Most of all, he can’t shake the question Could I have saved Roger? In a quest for answers, Jake finds himself looking for the next Roger and reaching out to the outcasts and lonely. But he quickly finds that crossing class castes threatens all his world is built on. And it could cost him his own friends, his girl, his dreams and even his reputation. Is it worth the price to find the answer to his ultimate question: What do I want my life to be about?
MOVIE website-http://www.tosavealifemovie.com/win.php
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NOW PLAYING in select theaters!!!
... check local listings for a theater near you ...
MARCH 12, 2010
Cinema Center of Bloomsburg (Bloomsburg,PA)
Millcreek Cinema 6 (Erie,PA)
Premiere Theatres 12 (Goldsboro,NC)
Sunchase Cinema 8 (Farmville,VA)
The Big Picture (Wooster,OH)
Cinemark Movie 12 (Columbus,OH)
Fugate's Cinema (Hazard,KY)
Celebration! Cinema, Lansing (Lansing,MI)
Theatres of Georgetown (Georgetown,KY)
Celebration! Cinema Woodland (Grand Rapids,MI)
Great Escape (Bedford,IN)
HELD OVER:
Cumberland 12 Cinemas (Plattsburgh,NY)
Hermitage Cinema 8 (Hermitage,PA)
Regal Westgate Mall Cinema 8 (Spartanburg,SC)
Southgate Cinema 6 (New Bern,NC)
Regal Greensboro Grande Stadium 16 (Greensboro,NC)
Great Escape Nitro 12 (Nitro,WV)
Garrett 8 (Oakland,MD)
Cinemark Movies 10 (Lynchburg,VA)
Abingdon Cinemall (Abingdon,VA)
Regal Valley View Grande Stadium 16 (Roanoke,VA)
MJR Marketplace Digital Cinema 20 (Sterling Heights,MI)
AMC Loews Great Lakes 25 (Auburn Hills,MI)
MJR Adrian Cinemas (Adrian,MI)
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Director: Bryan Baugh
Written by Jim Britts
Starring: Randy Wayne, Deja Kreutzberg, Joshua Weigel, Kim Hidalgo, Sean Michael Afable, Robert Bailey, & Steven Crowder
[(2009)USA/IDP-Samuel Goldwyn] - (2 hrs)
Synopsis: Jake Taylor (Randy Wayne) has it all: friends, fame a basketball scholarship and the hottest girl in school. What could be better? Enter Roger Dawson (Robert Bailey Jr.). Roger has nothing. No friends. No hope. Nothing but putdowns and getting pushed aside. Things couldn’t get worse…could they?
Jake and Roger were best friends when they were kids. But the politics of high school quickly pulled them apart. Now Roger doesn’t fit in Jake’s – or anyone’s circle – and he’s had enough. He walks onto camus with a gun in his pocket and pain in his heart and makes a tragic move.
Jake’s last-ditch effort can’t stop Roger, and the sudden tragedy rocks Jake’s world. Something breaks loose inside and sends him questioning everything. Most of all, he can’t shake the question Could I have saved Roger? In a quest for answers, Jake finds himself looking for the next Roger and reaching out to the outcasts and lonely. But he quickly finds that crossing class castes threatens all his world is built on. And it could cost him his own friends, his girl, his dreams and even his reputation. Is it worth the price to find the answer to his ultimate question: What do I want my life to be about?
MOVIE website-http://www.tosavealifemovie.com/win.php
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOW PLAYING in select theaters!!!
... check local listings for a theater near you ...
MARCH 12, 2010
Cinema Center of Bloomsburg (Bloomsburg,PA)
Millcreek Cinema 6 (Erie,PA)
Premiere Theatres 12 (Goldsboro,NC)
Sunchase Cinema 8 (Farmville,VA)
The Big Picture (Wooster,OH)
Cinemark Movie 12 (Columbus,OH)
Fugate's Cinema (Hazard,KY)
Celebration! Cinema, Lansing (Lansing,MI)
Theatres of Georgetown (Georgetown,KY)
Celebration! Cinema Woodland (Grand Rapids,MI)
Great Escape (Bedford,IN)
HELD OVER:
Cumberland 12 Cinemas (Plattsburgh,NY)
Hermitage Cinema 8 (Hermitage,PA)
Regal Westgate Mall Cinema 8 (Spartanburg,SC)
Southgate Cinema 6 (New Bern,NC)
Regal Greensboro Grande Stadium 16 (Greensboro,NC)
Great Escape Nitro 12 (Nitro,WV)
Garrett 8 (Oakland,MD)
Cinemark Movies 10 (Lynchburg,VA)
Abingdon Cinemall (Abingdon,VA)
Regal Valley View Grande Stadium 16 (Roanoke,VA)
MJR Marketplace Digital Cinema 20 (Sterling Heights,MI)
AMC Loews Great Lakes 25 (Auburn Hills,MI)
MJR Adrian Cinemas (Adrian,MI)
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