Faith-based Film Bucks Trend

The actors in a Kendrick brothers film don’t shed their characters so easily. Their work is often just beginning.

Stephen Kendrick, who with his brother Alex has written four faith-based films including “Courageous” and “Fireproof,” says the two men choose their casts carefully. That means the stars who embody the Christian themes in their stories try to live up to them long after the cameras stop rolling and the lights are turned off.

“Kirk (Cameron) believes in the power of prayer,” Kendrick said in an interview with LifeZette, describing how the actor continues to promote the virtues of marriage weekends as a natural extension of his work in “Courageous.”

“That movie was in 2008, and he’s still doing that now.”

Kendrick expects something similar to happen with the brothers’ new movie, “War Room,” their fifth.

While the title may sound like one final summer blockbuster, it’s actually an intimate tale of a couple (Priscilla Shirer and T.C. Stallings) whose marriage is crumbling. They turn to an older woman, a “prayer warrior” played by Karen Abercrombie, who tries to save their relationship.

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It’s another Kendrick film with a small budget and no A-list stars that has already taken off at the box office. Both Fandango and BoxOffice.com had predicted it would compete with this past weekend’s larger, better financed productions (including “We Are Your Friends” and “No Escape”) that are being shown far more widely. The brothers’ “Fireproof” cost a measly $500,000 to make and wound up hauling in $33 million.

All of this points to a serious disconnect, a hostility even, between Hollywood and the faith-based community. Christians can’t wait to see movies that reflect their spirituality — yet too often the film industry can’t or won’t deliver.

“They didn’t even honor the story (with ‘Noah’). They got the theology backward.”

“We know our audience because we are our audience,” Kendrick said. “We’re living life with real people and going through real issues, not like Hollywood filmmakers who live in a bubble that interprets reality based on what movies do well this weekend.”

Consider “Noah,” the 2014 film based on the Biblical tale of Noah’s Ark. The film enjoyed strong opening weekend receipts, but failed to deliver on that initial promise.

“They didn’t even honor the story (with ‘Noah’). They got the theology backward,” Kendrick said. “You leave (the theater) callous and numb rather than refreshed and fulfilled.”

Related: Hollywood’s Bible Sneer

“Noah’s” director, Darren Aronofsky, is an atheist who envisioned the story as having strong environmental themes. That took the focus away from the spiritual nature of the tale. That likely was not an accident, Kendrick suggests.

“Hollywood is going to be uncomfortable with anything they don’t understand or things that will make them look bad in front of their peers,” he said bluntly.

As a result, both “Noah” and last year’s “Exodus: Gods and Kings” failed to match what the 2004 film “The Passion of the Christ” brought in. The Mel Gibson feature shocked the film industry, earning $370 million. The industry can see similar numbers if it follows Gibson’s template, Kendrick said.

“Every one of the movies has been the result of one answered prayer after another,” he said. But praying for the fifth film’s mission took time.

“If Hollywood would make movies that honor the stories and the message and God, those movies will have raving fans show up,” he said. Christians can sense an inauthentic project before it reaches theaters, he added. “They’ll flag that very quickly,” he said.

“War Room’s” inspiration came from the same source as the brothers’ previous films: prayer, and lots of it.

“Every one of the movies has been the result of one answered prayer after another,” he said. But praying for the fifth film’s mission took time.

“All of us have good ideas. What is the one He wants us to communicate?” Kenrick said.

The brothers came together on “War Room,” a story meant to inspire a wave of prayer warriors.

Some people insist movies are just entertainment. Kendrick sees it differently.

“Today, because this generation has grown up with iPhones in their pockets and YouTube on their computers, they’re constantly inundated with entertainment,” he said. “So they have developed an appetite for that, and that influences what they do.”

This article has been updated.