Movies with Christian Worldviews Earn Much More Money than Movies with Explicit Sex, Nudity and Obscenity
by Dr. Ted Baehr, Publisher of MOVIEGUIDE
March 15, 2007
HOLLYWOOD, CA (ANS) -- Hollywood pundits and advertisers on Madison Avenue like to tell the press that sex, nudity and obscenity sells best, but nothing could be further from the truth. For example, we recently completed a nine-year study of the theatrical box office at MOVIEGUIDE®. We discovered that Hollywood movies with strong Christian worldviews make much more money than movies with explicit sex and nudity and/or extreme foul language. In fact, Christian movies make two to seven times as much money, and often three to five times as much money, as movies with explicit sex and nudity. The study is based on an analysis of more than 2,400 top movies released at the box office from 1998 through 2006.
For example, in 2006, movies with a very strong Christian worldview, such as SUPERMAN RETURNS, THE NATIVITY STORY, ROCKY BALBOA, and FACING THE GIANTS, averaged $39 million at the box office, but movies with extreme, explicit sex, nudity and/or obscenity, such as CLERKS TWO, THE BLACK DAHLIA, SAW III, HOSTEL, ANOTHER GAY MOVIE, and THE DEPARTED, averaged only $9 million, $16.1 million and $23 million.
Even movies with only strong sexual content, nudity and/or foul language, such as THE BREAK-UP, TALLADEGA NIGHTS, LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN, CASINO ROYALE, THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND, and KEEPING MUM, averaged only $21.7 million, $14.7 million and $26.2 million in 2006.
Over the last nine years (1998 through 2006), according to the study, the highest and lowest averages for movies with strong or very strong Christian worldviews (CCC) have ranged between $30.1 million per movie to $106.3 million per movie (the year of THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST). In contrast, the highest and lowest averages for movies with very strong foul language, sex, and/or nudity (LLL, SSS, NNN) have been between $6.3 million per movie to $27.7 million per movie.
Thus, the vast majority of moviegoers, which includes the 142 million Americans who go to church every week, prefer positive Christian movies with morally uplifting content. If Hollywood executives and filmmakers want to make more money at the box office, they should make more movies that reflect a very strong Christian worldview with very strong moral values.
Below are the box office averages for the movies with strong or very strong Christian worldviews, extreme foul language, and explicit sex and nudity. (MOVIEGUIDE® began identifying movies with very strong Christian worldviews [as opposed to just content] in 1999.)
© 2007 ASSIST News Service, used with permission.
