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For the 2011 Top Film Industry Stories list, I noted the evolving nature of Christian cinema. At the time, a quartet of faith-based movies highlighted by Soul Surfer and Dolphin Tale grossed roughly $186 million against financial outlays of $64 million. At the time, this was viewed as a hallmark triumph for a movie demographic that had existed on the outskirts of Hollywood for decades.

During our 2013 Top Film Industry Stories list, Kim Hollis chronicled the cable-ization of the movie industry, noting that clever movie strategists have fundamentally altered their thinking with regards to movie releases. Historically, a title needed to appeal to most major demographics in order to merit wide theatrical release. Studios were hesitant to release anything with a slender target audience and, even if they did, exhibitors were reticent to screen such offerings.

Hollis noted a hallmark change in this philosophy as smaller scale projects were developed on a one-to-one basis for potential consumer demographics. Films such as Instructions Not Included and Dhoom 3 were marketed specifically to targeted audiences that had been previously ignored by major studios. By creating movies that directly appealed to those groups, these clever moviemakers demonstrated new box office earning potential.

Over the past 12 months, these previous two stories intersected as religious cinema became one of the most popular genres this side of superhero movies. The start of the year resonated with thunderous hits relative to budget, beginning with Son of God.

Arguably the cleverest and most financially lucrative release of the first quarter, this “movie” was in reality a trimmed down version of the ten-hour mini-series, The Bible, produced by Mark Burnett of Survivor fame. The History Channel epic from March of 2013 was edited down from its original length of 440 minutes to 138 minutes for its theatrical release.

The immediate popularity of Son of God should not have surprised anyone. After all, the premiere of The Bible was viewed by 13.1 million, and the entire saga was consumed by over 100 million people. The concern for the theatrical adaptation was predicated upon the idea that people watched The Bible on The History Channel for free. Some industry insiders posited that people would be disinclined to pay for a lesser version of the same story. This philosophy exemplifies the vast divide between Hollywood and Christian target audiences. The two sides simply do not understand one another.

Son of God was produced for an estimated $22 million, although the mini-series was already such a strong money-maker that the film version was effectively made for free. So, its $9.5 million opening day was all the more remarkable. During its initial weekend, the film garnered $25.6 million on its way to a total domestic take of $59.7 million. With another $11.7 million accrued overseas, Son of God grossed $70.8 million worldwide despite being edited down from a mini-series available for free to History Channel viewers. It was the first sign of an amazing year for God at the box office.

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