fox faith Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Jesus Still a Hollywood Power Player, Despite 'The Nativity Story' Bomb
Filed under: Drama », MGM », Sony », 20th Century Fox », Family Films », Religious »
A 13th-place opening weekend doesn't sound good to most studios, but for 20th Century Fox's new Christian division, FoxFaith, it has to sound great. The Ultimate Gift made over $1 million on only 814 screens, which should be encouraging for others in Hollywood still interested in cashing in on success of The Passion of the Christ. Since Mel Gibson's 2003 surprise smash hit about Good Friday, we've seen a flop with the story of Christmas, but there are plenty more holiday origins to bring to the big screen. Producer Ashok Amritraj is hoping audiences are more interested in the events directly following The Passion of the Christ. He has begun work on Risen -- The Story of the First Easter, which will feature the apostle Peter and his telling of Jesus' resurrection. Amritraj's Hyde Park Entertainment has a deal at Fox, but whether such a big project would be released by FoxFaith, or Fox at all, is not yet decided. Hopefully the film will be completed around the same time as Screen Gems' The Resurrection and MGM's Myriam, Mother of Christ so the three can have an Easter 2008 showdown. In fact, the Weinsteins might want to get in on that action, too.
Weinsteins to Distribute Faith-Based Films
Filed under: Deals », The Weinstein Co. », Newsstand »
In an attempt to grab a taste of every niche market out there, the Weinstein boys are looking to go where no Jew has gone before -- their forming a faith-based distribution label, and have partnered with Christian shingle Impact Entertainment on a first-look production deal. Yes folks, the Weinstens are on a quest to find Jesus in hopes the man will bring them lots and lots of money. Is it just me, or is this whole deal just a tiny bit odd? Then again, the Weinsteins are businessmen, and if there's a hungry audience out there, you bet they're going after them -- regardless of whether or not they celebrate Chanukah.
In a deal that's similar to the one they forged with Black Entertainment Television founder Robert L. Johnson (oh yes, the boys have officially gone urban as well), The Weinstein Co. will finance, co-produce and distribute approximately six theatrical titles per year, as well as a number of straight-to-DVD releases through their homevid label Genius Products. Oh, but they're not the first giants to jump into the holy water-filled pool, Fox has already announced their own faith-based division, FoxFaith, in which the studio will help distribute (but not produce) 12 films per year.
The first two theatrical gigs for TWC will be adaptations of The Penny, by Joyce Meyer and Deborah Bedford, and The Christmas Candle, by Max Lucado. Says Bob Weinstein about the deal, "This is a rapidly emerging and important area in the entertainment industry, and this deal fits perfectly into our strategy of acquiring and producing films that target niche audiences." I have no problem with that, so long as they eventually throw us Jews a bone too. Oh wait, perhaps that's asking a bit too much from a couple of boys named Weinstein. Oh well.
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