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Only three weeks later, while Son of God was still earning $2.7 million a weekend, God’s Not Dead was released. Perhaps no film in 2014 better represented the box office philosophy that a popular film in a specific genre creates positive reinforcement for consumers for the next release. The equally aggressive Christian release pointedly tells a story of a college professor who gives a failing grade to any student who refuses to sign a document stating that God is dead. When one of his students refuses to do so, the two of them debate the issue three times. You will never guess who wins in the end.

God’s Not Dead offers all the subtlety of a split atom. Featuring conservative icons such as Kevin Sorbo, Dean Cain and the Duck Dynasty family, it catered to its demographic as effectively as any release during the calendar year. The results were staggering. Made for a paltry $2 million, the Pure Flix Entertainment release out-earned Son of God domestically, tallying $60.8 million. By the end of March, religious cinema had already claimed over $120 million in box office against a financial outlay with a high end of $24 million and a low end of $2 million, depending on your perspective.

The scene was set for the Hollywood studio system attempt to capitalize on this wave of religious fervor at the box office. The $125 million production of Noah starring Russell Crowe was released the following weekend. While the anti-Hollywood crowd that comprised the audience for Son of God and God’s Not Dead was lukewarm regarding the quality of Noah and skeptical over its intent, they still gave the film the benefit of the doubt. Noah enjoyed an opening weekend take of $43.7 million, which placed it on track to become the most popular Biblical release of 2014, a feat it accomplished in only eight days. By the end of its global run in theaters, Noah grossed a whopping $362.6 million, making it one of the 20 most financially lucrative movies of 2014. In terms of return on investment, however, it is arguably the least successful of the three first quarter Biblical releases.

The final religious blockbuster of the year was released on April 18th. Heaven Is for Real falls somewhere between Noah and God’s Not Dead/Son of God on the Hollywood/independent cinema scale. A Sony release starring Greg Kinnear, it is a T.D. Jakes production under the famous reverend’s corporate umbrella.

The story involves a son requiring emergency surgery to recover from a near-fatal injury. During the trauma, he has a vision of his time in Heaven, including meeting a couple of family members whom he could describe in detail afterward despite having never met them. His tale becomes a national story, and his father, a pastor, must announce whether or not he believes his son. You will never guess what he decides in the end.

While the story of Heaven Is for Real is undeniably predictable, its box office story was anything but. It grossed over $100 million worldwide, over 90% of which came from North American consumers. And the budget for the film was a modest $12 million. These four films in totality grossed $585 million worldwide against a cost of no more than $160 million. That is an almost incomprehensible return on investment of over 3.6.

Notably, the Christian cinema genre was no more impervious to bombs than any other type of movie. The second half of the year included duds such as Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas, Persecuted, and the Left Behind remake starring Nicolas Cage. The three films were critically reviled to the extent that the one with the

HIGHEST

Rotten Tomatoes score is at 2%. It’s Left Behind if you were wondering. The other two both stand at 0%.

Consumers were no more excited, as the three films had combined box office of $18 million against nearly identical budget costs, meaning that even against modest expenses, all three were losers. Christian movie-goers recognize garbage just as much as the next person.

Along those lines, a pair of other religious releases, Moms Night Out and When the Game Stands Tall, were only modest successes. Those two films grossed approximately $40 million against financial outlays of $20 million, which means that they were at best barely profitable. Finally, the year ended with another Hollywood attempt to corner the religious market. Exodus: Gods and Kings, enjoyed a Ridley Scott pedigree, but its box office performance thus far is mediocre at best. The title has a current global take of just over $200 million against a production expense of $140 million.

In only three years, religious cinema has evolved from being a niche industry where $30 million seems like a blockbuster to a viable commercial enterprise. A $2 million movie has proven it can earn an exponent of 30 over its budget in domestic revenue. The process of direct targeting niche audiences has enticed consumers who once proudly proclaimed that the last movie they saw in theaters was The Passion of the Christ into going to the local Cineplex three or four times in a three-month period. Whether this behavior becomes standard or 2014 is proven to be anomalous is all that remains to be determined.

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