Sacred mystery: Blockbuster ratings for 'The Bible' confound Hollywood

Sacred mystery: Blockbuster ratings for 'The Bible' confound Hollywood

www.washingtontimes.com

Sure, it’s easy to criticize Hollywood, but try to remember that the entertainment industry today is an intellectually demanding environment, fraught with cognitively challenging, even intractable, questions, like, to take one recent example: How can the cable mini-series “The Bible” be such a ratings hit when there is no audience for overtly religious entertainment programming?

According to the latest Nielsens, released Tuesday, Sunday night’s telecast of “The Bible,” produced by husband-and-

(visit the link for the full news article)

It shouldn't because the Bible is still very popular to the chagrin of some of these Hollywood liberals. Movies with religious themes and small budgets do well. Look at The Passion of the Christ. Nobody wanted to touch it so Gibson had to go through New Market.

A lot of top movies have a spiritual theme with a religious narrative,

Star Wars - Luke was hidden away and he would return when old enough to fulfill his destiny and save the Republic in a religious order called the Jedi Knights.

Matrix - Neo is the One to save Zion and you can go on and on about the symbolism in that movie.

Superman - Do I even need to say why?

The Book of Eli - It was about preserving the Bible in post apocalyptic times.

Facing the Giants - cost $100,000 to make made over 10 million at the box office.

I can go on and on because the themes of Redemption and Rebirth are still very popular. The article also says this:

According to the latest Nielsens, released Tuesday, Sunday night’s telecast of “The Bible,” produced by husband-and-wife team Mark Burnett and Roma Downey for basic cable’s History channel, managed to attract more viewers than anything on broadcast network NBC … during the entire week.

The second installment of this five-part mini-series airing at 8-10 p.m. Sundays through Easter — the first foray into scripted drama for “Survivor” creator Burnett — drew 10.8 million viewers, good for number one in its timeslot and number 11 overall for the week.

Even bigger was part one the week before, which amassed an audience of 13.1 million viewers, cable’s largest of the year. That series premiere topped the ratings for both of the week’s episodes of “American Idol.” (Not the first time the Almighty has bested idols in head-to-head competition in this ancient rivalry — but, still, an impressive feat, even if Fox’s longtime ratings juggernaut is showing signs of slippage.)

BTW, I love the series The Bible. Last episode with Samson plus David and Saul was great!

www.washingtontimes.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

They should have realized it was popular after Mel Gibson made The Passion.

There is definitely an audience there for religion.

People watch because they're good stories. You don't have to be religious to enjoy watching The Ten Commandments, or The Greatest Story Ever Told.

"C'mon, how can it be a popular series? Where's the car chases, and the explosions? And when does that Magdalene chick take her clothes off? Come back when you've got something that sells, kid."
-- Hollywood producer to the (holy) ghostwriter of 'The Bible'

Is there a way to watch episodes that already aired online?

reply to post by neoholographic


I don't get why they would be surprised. It's an epic yarn of "biblical" proportions. There is no denying that there is at least some historically accurate tales in it and people dig that.

I don't see very many Zeus worshipers but Clash of the Titans was a smash hit and so is just about anything based in Greek mythology. It's because it is interesting, no matter what faith you belong to.

reply to post by neoholographic


With all the bloodshed, betrayals, and sex contained in the bible how could it not be a hit? I really enjoyed Arthur Christmas even though I don't believe in Santa...

Originally posted by TheComte
People watch because they're good stories. You don't have to be religious to enjoy watching The Ten Commandments, or The Greatest Story Ever Told.

I agree. Especially The Ten Commandments with Heston.

People are thirsty. Humans are spiritual beings, and crave attending to that element...even if it only has the appearance of spiritual.

How can the cable mini-series “The Bible” be such a ratings hit when there is no audience for overtly religious entertainment programming?

Because people enjoy fiction?
Magic, mass murders, story of an epic. Its what the masses crave.
Its entertaining.. for everyone. Even if it is just a silly myth.

Just look at the latest movies made based on other myths.. One is about Thor.
It sold like warm bread.

I enjoyed Passion of the christ alot! And im an atheist

reply to post by neoholographic


I guess people just have a thing for fairy tales.

Hey, I was just trying it on.

Once again God made his presence known during the filming of this, so much to the point that every one of the hundred people all looked at each other in dismay. One thing that God does show his displeasure with is the Crucifixion shootings in every movie that has tried it.

Every day, this guy would find a snake or maybe two snakes, and remove them.

On the day of the Crucifixion filming!

He came to my wife and said, ‘Miss Roma, there were 48 snakes.’ He found 48 cobras and vipers hidden within the rocks around the cross.”

And that is the least obvious proof God was making his presence known yet the most deadly, Just like the filming of the Passion of the Christ crucifixion scene. God gets very angry when actors do that for some reason. Read about the rest.

insidetv.ew.com...

James Caviezel admitted to being struck by lightning at least twice during the filming, once during the crucifixion scene. James looked up and said to God, "What, you didn't like that take?"

www.funtrivia.com...

Having been struck by lightning I can tell you that God was only warning him because I was struck from many many miles away when it was sunny in my area. The strike caused a Hemorrhage in my brain witch causes seizures without medication. I am a good God fearing Christian but he apparently wanted to change my life for some good reason, yet to be known. Or the Government did it as they have these weapons now as I have seen them recently, they are hand held weapons witch should terrify everyone.

I don't know about Hollywood, but my local cable company includes 8 - 24/7 "religious" channels in the first 78 (basic package) channels on their channel map.

It seems like there must be more demand for this stuff than the OP's source gives credit to.

Side note: I am not especially religious, but I have enjoyed the History Channel's latest docu-drama about the Old Testament (not in the basic line up).

reply to post by neoholographic


oh i'm not shocked at that... it's a good series!! very well done and i

How is Hollywood 'confounded'?

Darren Aronofsky's Noah is coming, and Steven Spielberg's take on Moses, Gods and Kings, is on the way. I don't think either of these directors are particularly confounded, and they started these films years ago.

In the very recent past there have been multiple studios trying to hit biblical films and mini-series, and we've had some successes such as Disney's Moses. I don't seen where anyone here is confounded.

Mel Gibson was doubted because of his personal life, his strained relationship with the media, and his choice to create a film using sub-titles and then give it a large cinema release. It was a risky choice from someone who was having a tough time in their lives. The anti-religious sentiment the media put on him was partly due to his behaviors / comments.

The Bible series is just continuing a current trend which is to take a historical narrative, add blood, violence, sex, visual spectacle, and completely out of place fight choreography (I'm glaring at you Jackie Chan angel) and then profit from it. Just look at Spartacus: Blood and Sand and other similar things ... Also a lot of The Bible producers worked on Gettysburg which was also heavily stylized and violent.

Basically ...

Here is you





This is the garden path leading to large VFX based biblical epics ...





Here is Steven Spielberg and his Hollywood friend Harvey Weinstein having money fort battles.

Hollywood are following trends, and letting you feel like you're smart like they always do. To give an idea of how far the public and the Washington Post are from the pulse ... Michael Green and Stuart Hazeldine had finished the script by around 2010, and Steven Spielberg had begun the discussion with Warner Brothers by 2011. It should begin filming this year unless something crazy happened since I last looked at it.

Jesus Christ still remains the most popular being to ever walk the Earth. Whether one believes in his divinity or not, the entire modern world is the direct result of his execution on the cross, and the world's acceptance of his resurrection. As a companion of Christ, I feel that whether you believe or not, if you say "Jesus Christ!!!" in angst, no one is ever going to look at you and say, "Who?"

Originally posted by neoholographic

Sacred mystery: Blockbuster ratings for 'The Bible' confound Hollywood

www.washingtontimes.com

Sure, it’s easy to criticize Hollywood, but try to remember that the entertainment industry today is an intellectually demanding environment, fraught with cognitively challenging, even intractable, questions, like, to take one recent example: How can the cable mini-series “The Bible” be such a ratings hit when there is no audience for overtly religious entertainment programming?

According to the latest Nielsens, released Tuesday, Sunday night’s telecast of “The Bible,” produced by husband-and-

(visit the link for the full news article)

nothing in the article quotes anyone who is "confounded"....it is another made-up supposed confrontation. who in hollywood with any gravitas, has said "there is no audience for overtly religous entertainment programming"????
that is just a lie,...put out by....i'll give you three guesses.

They are confounded primarily due to this miscalculation.
Understandable when you account for the mindset of most of Hollywood.

Originally posted by neoholographic

Sacred mystery: Blockbuster ratings for 'The Bible' confound Hollywood

www.washingtontimes.com

there is no audience for overtly religious entertainment programming?
-

(visit the link for the full news article)

In MY opinion I'm an athiest even though I believe in something I refer to as "God", it's just so different from any Earthly organised religion's "God" that I have to consider myself an athiest. That said, I can't STAND the vast majority of people who call themselves "athiests", because atheism is a religion to them. They act just as fanatical as any other religious fanatic, attacking other religions, and trying to infringe upon other's beliefs and traditions upon which this country in particular was founded. So I hate being lumped in with these so-called atheists......but I am an atheist.

Yet I've watched replays of every single episode of "The Bible". I don't watch the first airing because The Simpsons and The Walking Dead are my priorities Sunday nights, but I'm up late and have caught all 3 episodes so far the night they aired.

It's not at all surprising that the series is getting good ratings. I'm not watching for the religious aspects, nor are probably half the audience. It's getting ratings because:

1) It's a bunch of good stories first of all. It shows time and again, not only in fiction but also in real life, that even truly good people, with truly good intentions, when they get into positions of power they almost all tend to be corrupted in one way or another. Some find redemption, others don't. I mean there are comparisons to be made from everything to the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker, to countless real world examples from the Romanov dynasty to Obama's rise compared to what he's doing to the people he leads....though that story has yet play out. The point is, these are good stories with lessons to be learned......not neccesarily religious lessons, but real world, life lessons that everyone from field workers to world leaders could learn from to avoid making the same mistakes of the past over and over.

2) The format. It's being produced to a good standard and good choices were made in production. It's a story that is too boring and confusing for most people to actually read the book, but this series is presenting the story not only in chronological order which keeps it interesting and easier to follow, it's also being presented in a literal, almost documentary format....and good documentaries are hot right now. I actually wish the narrator was busier, setting scenes up far more, he's a good documentary narrator (that's the black deepthroat from X-Files, right?) and they should have used him more, but otherwise I'm really enjoying the series.

As someone else said, this series getting good rating will likely and unfortunately lead to hollywood making tons of Bible movies now....which is not going to be as amazingly high rated comparitively because much like The Walking Dead or X-Files, a series is the ideal format for Bible stories, not movies so much. That said, as people also pointed out, alot of religious movies....as long as they're interesting, tend to do pretty well also. I just know I'd never pay money to see one if it's specifically religious.