LOS ANGELES — For some filmgoers, hearing a movie described as “faith-based” makes it a must-see. But just as many others find the term a turnoff.
To reach audiences beyond the Christian churchgoers that generally propel the genre, some producers of faith-based films are ramping up the star power and tamping down the evangelical messages.
The latest example is “Miracles From Heaven,” starring Jennifer Garner and Queen Latifah, which tells the true story of a 9-year-old Texas girl who inexplicably recovers from an incurable condition after surviving a 30-foot fall.
Among the film’s producers are pastors T.D. Jakes and DeVon Franklin — the team behind 2014’s $100 million hit “Heaven Is for Real” — who say they aim to make movies for all audiences, not just religious ones.
“I think sometimes when people hear ‘faith-based,’ to them that is code for preachy, that is code for more medicine, and it’s also sometimes code for lower quality, lower budgeted,” Franklin said in a recent interview.
“It’s the way people think when you use labels that is the barrier,” Jakes said. “It’s not necessarily the film, but the image that comes up in people’s minds. … It suggests a discrimination that was not intended.”
Other entertainment aimed at Christian audiences, including new films “The Young Messiah” and “God’s Not Dead 2,” and the live TV special “The Passion” (airing Sunday), take a more religious approach.
“Miracles From Heaven” is based on Christy Beam’s 2015 memoir, which describes her family’s struggles and her own crisis of faith when daughter Anna is diagnosed with an incurable digestive disorder, then has a potentially deadly fall. But following the mishap, Anna has no serious injuries and ultimately shows no signs of the disorder. She later tells her mom she went to heaven and talked to Jesus during the ordeal.
The film is being released by Sony’s Affirm Films, the studio’s specialty faith division established in 2007.
Affirm also released “Heaven Is for Real,” starring Greg Kinnear, which had a reported $12 million budget and made more than $100 million.
