Posted on 12/06/2006 7:45:53 PM PST by AngieGal
Hollywood will not make anymore religious films unless Christians go and see The Nativity Story in large numbers
That’s the view of its producer, Marty Bowen
By Dan Wooding Founder of ASSIST Ministries Poster for The Nativity Story
HOLLYWOOD, CA (ANS) -- Marty Bowen, producer of The Nativity Story which came in fourth in the weekend box office in the United States, is concerned that Hollywood will not make anymore religious films unless Christians now go and see the movie in large numbers.
Despite many good reviews, New Line’s The Nativity Story, the story of Christ’s birth, only took in $8 million in the United States from 3,183 locations to come in fourth, while, for the third week in a row, the No. 1 and No. 2 films remain Warners' Happy Feet and Sony's Casino Royale, respectively. Buena Vista's Déjà Vu also remained unchanged from its third place finish last week, netting an additional $11 million.
In an interview with ANS, Marty Bowen said he was disappointed with the fact that the movie only came in fourth.
“I thought it was incredibly disheartening for a variety of different reasons, not the least of which is you hear this common lament from moviegoers that America feels like Hollywood has lost touch with what they want to see. People feel like there is too much violence in movies and too much disrespect towards the family.
“Now finally a Hollywood studio has stepped up and put their money where their mouth is and has committed to making and releasing a movie, not on a couple of screens but rather on a very big very large fashion – more than three-thousand screens around the country -- and giving the audience what they say they want and yet that sense of urgency in that audience isn’t there to go and see it.
“What is disappointing is you hear people talk about how we can make movies better but if you don’t go see them when they are presented to you, Hollywood’s never going to do it again. And that’s what is frustrating to me because I changed careers to make movies that would inspire people and if there’s not a business for it, and I can’t find a studio to make the movies that I want to make, then that’s disappointing.”
Bowen, who was formerly an agent, went on to say, “Hollywood hasn’t made a Biblical film like this for decades. The Passion Of The Christ was one man’s journey and he [Mel Gibson] did a phenomenal job.
“I think what happens in a movie like this is that people say, ‘I’ll get to see the movie when I get around to it.’ What they don’t understand is that this is a business. These theater owners have a lot of demand for their screens and if a movie does not perform well on December 1st, despite the fact that it is the reason for this holiday season -- it’s the Christmas story -- it might not make it to December 25th, and that angers me.
“It just really saddens me that a movie that’s about the birth of Jesus may not be in theaters when that celebration of that birth takes place. And that’s really disappointing.
“People don’t seem to realize that when a studio commits tens of millions of dollars to make a movie they expect an audience to go see it; and if they don’t see it soon they’ll never be around to see it later.
When asked if he had a message to American Christians, he replied, “There needs to be a sense that, if what you want is to see films that are about faith and family and you want to light a fire under your neighbors to be inspired to live the life that you feel like is fulfilling to you, then you need to support films that have a similar message. If you don’t then you need to be ok with the idea that next year at the box office there’s going to be a movie about some guy cutting people’s throats around a Christmas tree.
“That’s the nature of the beast. It’s a sad commentary to me that when we considered the possibility of naming this movie Silent Night we couldn’t do that because that sounded like a horror film. That’s awful. So that’s why I put it [The Nativity Story] out there. You can’t wait to see this movie because you’re giving the wrong message to Hollywood.”
Bowen concluded by saying, “It’s not an effective argument, in my opinion, to wait around until Hollywood makes the decision for themselves and then, what they make is something you find morally reprehensible, and then you protest. To me that’s negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement has always been more effective. If a movie speaks to what you want movies to be about than you need to support it or you need to shut up.”
So, what are you waiting for? Go and see The Nativity Story before it is too late!
Note: I’d like to thank Robin Frost for transcribing this interview.
Sounds like a movie I may like to see and will if I have a chance. If I don't, I won't. Whether or not Hollywood ever makes another movie of any sort is completely irrelevant. To paraphrase an old song "They Think I Still Care"
I'd just like to point out that Mel Gibson did a great job of pre-selling his movie to his selected target audience. By the time it came out, there probably wasn't a person in the U.S. that hadn't heard about his movie. By contrast, I never heard about this new movie until about a week before it came out. Perhaps the producer should look at herself and see if she could have done a better job publicizing her movie.
"Movie producers respond to numbers and money. If they get burned by this flick, they will be reluctant to try again. "
This is not really true. The top money movies are G and PG and PG13. Yet they make over 50% R rated even though they almost always make less than PG-13 movies. Hollywood only makes a few wide appeal movies to fill the bank account and then they make 10 smut filled poopers.
The movie house that brings us this movie also brought us Death of a president, that movie lost money big time, no big deal for them, they will just make a Christen movie to fill the house while they get ready for “Death of the president II
No, he's a guy who gets points on the box office. His incentive is to get people to watch it.
Despite the enthusiastic support of Hugh Hewitt, Even folks who disliked "Passion" for religious or political reasons generally acknowledged its artistry and skill. I haven't seen that kind of benefit given to "nativity." The ugly fact is, even if you respect the filmmakers for tackling the subject and you admire their philosophy, the movie itself can still suck bilge water through a bendy straw.
When I see scary statements like Bowen's, my cynical impulse is to assume that he's trying to pressure Christians into seeing his movie, whether they want to or not, and praising it, whether they like it or not, because he knows it cannot stand on its merits. And frankly any filmmaker who's trying that hard to win over a sympathetic audience probably knows that his film is circling the drain.
Joseph is not gay in the movie. The virgin birth is exactly that.
I think also some people are waiting to get a little closer to Christmas. My church is going the 18th.
Umm, So what?
Why thank you, for the kind words. God bless you.
Dittos to that. For an industry that has mocked Christianity for decades to come along and say "Kissy, kissy, let's make up now", I have two words I can't post on FR. FWIW, the last movie I saw on the "big screen" was the original Jaws.
"People go to the movies to be entertained and not to make a political or religious statement."
I go to get my popcorn fix, eating an entire bucket and skipping the next 2 meals.
I have to drink a gallon of water afterward to purge the salt from my system, but damn I love that popcorn in the fake butter. :(
Gosh, nothing in the Bible about lying in order to shamelessly pimp your film, eh buddy?
Hollywood makes many religious films - they're just of an anti-Christian religion. Maybe it's time for someplace aside from Hollywood to make 'religious' films.
I'm sure that she thought that all she had to do was invest in a religious film and that religious people would flock to it (money in hand).
That failed, thus we get the desperation tactic posted above.
"What is with the obsession with technical virginity? Isn't virginity the result of choices about sex, having nothing to do with a divine birth?"
I'm pretty certain that virginity is defined by inbound, not outbound, uh, activity.
Imagine someone saying that about humorous movies
..."if you don't go see this we'll stop making comedies".
Movies tend to stand or fall on their own merits not their genre.
I wonder how many artist of religious art were unchaste or without sin. Seriously, people, this is a well done movie that tells the story of our Savior's birth. If you find it offensive because of the artist involved or the people who put it out there, then by all means, don't go. But I hope you're consistent and turn your face from any works by Michelangelo or any other sinful artist out there.
Can't wait for the movie about Mohammed....wonder what they'll threaten if nobody goes to see it.
Certainly I'm not sure where you are coming from here. The hymen could not possibly withstand a birth intact. The hymen is present, torn or not, until a woman delivers a baby vaginally. Then it's gone!
The virgin birth is NOT about the hymen at all. It is about the means of conception...the Holy Spirit vs intercourse.
You just don't see the incongruity, the irony of having the Blessed Virgin Mary played by a 16-year-old girl who chose to have a child out of wedlock? That doesn't strike you as ironic?
Of course we're all sinful. That's not the point.
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