HOLLYWOOD--Two new long-term studies by Movieguide®: The Family Guide to Movies & Entertainment show that moviegoers prefer to see movies with strong Christian, redemptive worldviews and content.

Family and child advocate Dr. Ted Baehr, founder and publisher of Movieguide®, recently announced the findings as part of the run-up to Movieguide®'s 2014 Report to the Entertainment Industry, an annual comprehensive financial analysis of the domestic, overseas, and home video film market.

"Media pundits don't realize that the public prefers to see movies with positive Christian content and values," Dr. Baehr said.
According to a 10-year study of all the major movies released by Hollywood and the major independent studios, Baehr said, movies with very strong Christian worldviews averaged $73.27 million at the box office, but movies with very strong Non-Christian worldviews averaged only $21.01 million.

The differences were even wider in a five-year study conducted by Movieguide®.

According to the five-year study, movies with very strong Christian worldviews averaged $82.97 million per movie, but movies with very strong Non-Christian worldviews averaged only $21.84 million.

"The overseas box office tells a similar story," Baehr said.

For example, 80 percent of the Top 10 Movies Overseas between 2009 and 2013 had strong or very strong Christian, redemptive content, including positive references to Christianity, Jesus, God, or faith -- THE AVENGERS, IRON MAN 3, SKYFALL, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES, TRANSFORMERS:  DARK OF THE MOON, ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT, and THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY.
  
"It pays to put Christian, faith-friendly content in your blockbuster movies and television programs," Dr. Baehr added, citing the recent high ratings for TV programs like THE BIBLE and DUCK DYNASTY.

Author of THE CULTURE-WISE FAMILY and the filmmaking book HOW TO SUCCEED IN HOLLYWOOD (WITHOUT LOSING YOUR SOUL), Dr. Baehr is chairman of the Christian Film & Television Commission® (CFTVC) ministry and director of its family guide to movies and entertainment, Movieguide® (www.movieguide.org). CFTVC and Movieguide® are an international non-profit ministry, advocacy group, and watchdog dedicated to "redeeming the values of the entertainment industry by influencing industry executives and by informing and equipping the public about the influence of the entertainment media."

The Annual Report to the Entertainment Industry also contains information on whether moviegoers prefer movies with no foul language and no lewd content, or explicit sex and nudity.

For more information, visit www.movieguide.org and www.movieguideawards.com or call 1-888-248-6689.
The Annual Faith & Values Awards and Report to the Entertainment Industry are supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation.