Pop culture and religion. Some recent moves in the entertainment industry make it appear that one is looking to promote the other. But, as we all know, looks can be deceiving. Just a few days ago two major announcements were made involving the entertainment world (movies, the Internet, and believe it or not, cellphones) and “religious material.” In part one of “Pop Culture and Religion” I will discuss the recent movie news that may bring a smile to the faces of parents who are constantly looking for something “decent” to view with their children:
In a move it is calling “a chance to fill an underserved marketplace” the home-video division of Twentieth Century Fox said it is planning to acquire as many as a dozen family friendly movies a year and market them under the FoxFaith banner.
Have you heard of FoxFaith? The premise of it is to reach audiences seeking family friendly films. According to the studio, the family friendly strategy was originally launched to sell a broad array of DVDs to retailers, including “Hello Dolly” and “My Friend Flicka” as well as “Love Comes Softly,” a film based on the books of popular Christian author Janette Oke.
(Just a side note: I found it interesting that Fox passed on the chance to distribute Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” in theaters, but once it raked in more than $600 million worldwide at the box office it decided to distribute the DVD.)
Needless to say, the company says the FoxFaith films will be aimed at “the same Christian audiences that helped boost box-office receipts for such films as ‘The Passion of the Christ’ and ‘The Chronicles of Narnia.’” According to movie executives, about half of the films will be distributed to movie theaters while the rest will go directly to DVD. What’s more, the studio has developed a network of 90,000 churches it will use to help market its FoxFaith films.
The first theatrical release to be marketed by the FoxFaith will be “Love’s Abiding Joy,” based on the fourth installment in the Janette Oke book series. The studio also said it will also be releasing “Color of the Cross,” a film that portrays Christ as a black man.