Hollywood’s Disruption and the Christian Opportunity

Author: John Stonestreet

‘Tis typically the season of “summer blockbusters,” but this year has featured a number of independent and faith-based films offering redemptive stories. And, they have been performing well, both at the box office and via streaming platforms. Are we witnessing a disruption in the film industry? 

           For example, both A Great Awakening and Young Washington were released in theaters nationwide, and both garnered positive reviews. A Great Awakening was produced by Sight and Sound Films, a company known for their live theater locations. Young Washington opened #2 at the Box Office on Independence Day and was produced by Wonder Project and distributed by Angel Studios.  

Neal Harmon, co-founder and CEO of Angel, said,  

Young Washington takes us back when the leaders we now admire were still  discovering who they would become. It’s a deeply human story about growth,  sacrifice, humility, and leadership earned through adversity and preserved by  divine  providence. 

Unlike the new Supergirl movie, which is tanking at the box office, or AI-generated videos, this movie is about a real hero from history, something all Americans—especially young ones—can benefit from seeing. 

Added to the list should be Joe Loconte’s documentary Benjamin Rush: The American Revolution’s Indispensable Doctor. Along with A Great Awakening, it is among the top 10 most-viewed Wonder films on Amazon Prime. Joining the American fervor is Hillsdale College, who produced Revolutionary America, distributed by Fathom Entertainment. Narrated by Tom Selleck, it tells the story of the American Revolution through the experience of Americans during that period.  

Speaking of Fathom Entertainment, they recently announced, along with Lionsgate, that the 2004 film The Passion of the Christ—which depicts the 12 hours leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion—will be re-released in theaters this September. This is in preparation for the sequel, The Resurrection of the Christ, scheduled to premier with part one in May of 2027 and part two in May of 2028. 

           If there is a real disruption taking place in Hollywood, it is because people seem to want to see movies that are not only innovative and made with excellence but also rooted in reality. Film critic Matt Zoller Seitz called Young Washington a “slam-dunk,” and  

a modern example of the sort of movie that used to be a permanent asset in  Hollywood’s studio portfolio: a well-crafted but accessible biopic . . . that respects  its audience. We can always use more of those. 

But instead, Hollywood has resorted to re-releasing hits from years’ past, recycling old stories with an increasingly woke accent, or sheer repetition, a seemingly unending flow of sequels and prequels. A recent article in the Atlantic asked, “Is this the Worst-Ever Era of American Pop Culture?” For example, one of this year’s top summer films was Toy Story 5. Let that sink in: Toy Story 5!  

Christians who are living in a time of cultural decadence, a decadence that has also infected Hollywood, have a responsibility to consume entertainment differently. As Pastor Carlos Erazo put it,  

As Christians, we do not consume entertainment passively; we consume it with discernment because every story is shaping a worldview and we want it to be the Word of God, not the world, that shapes ours. 

           There’s also an opportunity to produce, and it cannot begin with an addiction to whatever is trendy or new. As Russell Kirk observed, the best created works will appeal to enduring truths and therefore to posterity. That can be done by both telling true historical events and creating new stories within a meaningful moral framework.  

There is an opening for Christians to speak with excellence into the arts, including film, and to do so with wisdom drawn from the rich moral universe of the Christian worldview. Paraphrasing C.S. Lewis, we don’t need more Christian books, but more books written by Christians. We need Christian creativity over every square inch of God’s creation, and that includes, film.