Will Christian movies ever make an impact within the UK?

Christian movies have never really made a huge impact in UK cinemas, so I wish to support them after they arrive in my local area.

The King of Kings could have broken box office records within the US and elsewhere – making it essentially the most successful opening for a biblical animated feature – but within the UK it is just being shown at chosen cinemas.

I saw it at my local Odeon, with just a few rows full, and only two day by day daytime screenings. The crowds were opting to see A Minecraft Movie or Disney’s Snow White as an alternative.

This Easter, The Chosen: Last Supper Part 1 can also be being screened, so this marks a rare achievement, with two Christian movies on release within the UK. 

Just just a few weeks back, I used to be entranced and challenged by the Bonhoeffer movie that was also shown at some British cinemas. That definitely deserved a much larger audience.

Ironically, The King of Kings must have had added resonance for UK movie-goers, with the Biblical story being voiced by so many British actors, and depicting the Victorian writer Charles Dickens telling the story to his son, in his London home.

I’d recommend the movie to other British Christians, especially those in search of a option to engage younger audiences. The animation is great, the story is well-paced and deeply moving, and the involvement of a young boy within the story makes it engaging. It was good to see the film during Holy Week as a part of my preparation for the Easter weekend.

I believe, though, for British audiences the film could have a much larger reach when it is offered on Netflix, Apple TV or one in all the opposite global streaming services.

The success of The Chosen has proved there’s a big global audience for the story of Christ. But the drift away from cinemas to the streamers implies that big screen movies may not have the impact they once had.

I’ve never been one for the massive Biblical classics like Ben Hur or The Ten Commandments, and my first brush with Christian movies within the UK was the 1967 film Two a Penny, starring singer Cliff Richard, showing at an area church. I don’t think it was noticed by the Oscar judges!

Then in 2004, I saw Mel Gibson’s epic The Passion of the Christ movie twice. First, at a preview screening on the National Religious Broadcasting convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, when several thousand evangelical delegates were moved to tears. And then, weeks later, at my local cinema, north of London, where I sat in a half-empty studio, and cinema-goers near me ate popcorn and chatted throughout the crucifixion scenes. Two audiences – two very different reactions.

More recently, I’ve enjoyed Christian movies Unsung Hero and Jesus Revolution on limited release within the UK, however it’s rare for such movies to make the multiplex chains.

I wish well all those movie-makers searching for to draw UK cinema audiences to look at Christian movies, and I hope they’re successful. But I feel it’s going to be an uphill struggle.

Rev Peter Crumpler is a Church of England minister in St Albans, north of London, and a former communications director with the CofE.