Why ‘Young Washington’ And ‘The Resurrection Of The Christ’ Are Bigger Than You Think
(ANALYSIS) Two recent announcements about two upcoming faith-based releases that could be game-changers for the industry: Angel Studios and The Wonder Project’s “Young Washington” and Mel Gibson’s “The Resurrection of the Christ.”
The team behind “Young Washington” announced that their film, set to release next year on July 4 to coincide with America’s 250th anniversary, had added names like Ben Kingsley, Andy Serkis and Joel Smallbone to the cast. “The Resurrection of the Christ” announced that they would be releasing the film in two parts in March 2027. The first part would come out on Good Friday on March 26, 2027. The second slated 40 days later on Ascension Day, which falls on Thursday, May 6.
While these announcements have mostly gone under the radar, they have the potential to upend the Hollywood and cultural landscape as we know it for a long time to come. It could bring faith-based filmmaking into not only the Hollywood mainstream – but into a place of relative cultural ascension.
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Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” jumpstarted the modern faith-based film industry back in 2004 by showing that there was an audience for movies aimed at Christians. Hollywood studios and other interested parties were suddenly interested in investing in such films. Unfortunately, none of the movies in the wake of these films were able to recapture the success of “Passion.”
Gibson was rocked by personal scandals. Hollywood directors like Darren Aronofsky, Ridley Scott and Martin Scorsese made films that didn’t resonate with that audience. Meanwhile, the Christian films that were doing well with Christians – like “Fireproof” and “God’s Not Dead” – were generally looked down upon by Christians and non-Christians for their subpar quality and tendency to “preach to the choir.”
There were also demographic factors at play. Christianity was in cultural decline, with those who didn’t identify with any specific religion (a group called “the nones”) on the rise. The group most likely to be the dedicated churchgoers — and therefore make up the bulk of the faith-based industry audience — were married moms.
These factors are not unrelated. The phenomenon of “male flight” meant that men tended to exit environments that are more than 60% female. This meant that the church and the movies made to appeal to the mom audience were always going to face problems of long-term cultural decline and irrelevance (even as the faith-based industry was growing because nobody had been tapping into that market in the first place).
But a few things have changed in the last 20 years. The first is that Christians have gotten better at making films. “The Chosen,” “The House of David,” “The Last Rodeo” and “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” are faith-based shows and movies that have generated both critical and audience acclaim from Christians and non-Christians alike. Studios and platforms like Lionsgate and Amazon have jumped to partner with people like Dallas Jenkins and Jon Erwin who have shown they can be trusted with their money.
The second is that demographics have flipped. The rise of nones has stopped. With Gen Z, men now outnumber women when it comes to church attendance. The most popular podcasts and influencers, like Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson, are friendly to Christianity. As the culture has gotten more polarized, Christianity is increasingly associated with many things which are experiencing cultural popularity or are good for long-term growth: Masculinity, family values, broadly conservative and pro-American politics. These are creating a desire in faith-based audiences for faith-based movies that reflect these sensibilities.
Hollywood is noticing this cultural shift as well – and trying to find ways to ride the wave (or at least not get smashed against the rocks). “Top Gun: Maverick” made a huge amount of money by appealing to broadly “red state” voters without alienating others. Meanwhile, films and shows perceived as “woke” or promoting overtly LGBTQ issues have greatly underperformed, causing studios like Disney to pull back from politics and erase or downplay overtly queer and trans storylines.
Unfortunately, they still have the same problem that they did 20 years ago. They may see the market, but their writers and artists are too divorced from the culture and values of that market to be able to consistently appeal to it.
Enter “Young Washington.” This is a film built to hit it big with faith-based conservative “Top Gun: Maverick” audiences, while still being a hit with the mainstream as well. The film is about the life of George Washington, chronicling his young days in the French-Indian War as he grows to become a hero. Washington is very popular with conservative Christians, but also everyday Americans. It’s framed as a war movie and a hero's journey story, which is popular with men. It’s written and directed by Erwin and released by Angel Studios, who know the conservative Christian audience and how to court them. It stars well-known actors like Kingsley and Serkis. Everything about it sets it up for being a massive hit.
Then there’s Gibson’s “The Resurrection of the Christ” coming the following year. Gibson has proven able to consistently make faith-based films that get mainstream success. His “Passion of the Christ” was the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time domestically until “Deadpool & Wolverine.”
Likewise, “Hacksaw Ridge” was incredibly popular with faith-based audiences, while still garnering massive critical acclaim and award nominations. And “Father Stu” was also well-received. His version and vision of Jesus fits well with the male-centric Christianity crowd, who prefer a Messiah focused on the conquering of evil.
Then there’s the release strategy. By releasing the first part of the film on Good Friday, and the second part 40 days later on Ascension Day, the film is creating synergy with the church calendar. This makes it feel more like a religious event than just a film event. That’s not all. The film is also coming on the heels of “The Chosen” series.
“The Chosen” is releasing its season six finale in theaters as a feature film on March 12, 2027, which means that audiences will be able to watch a movie about Jesus’s death by one popular creative team for what will be a very successful Easter season for both releases.
There’s never any guarantee of success. Both movies could be terrible. The studios or creative team could get caught in scandals or culture war controversies that hurt the film. But the bigger picture is that faith-based filmmakers are setting themselves up to succeed in being mainstream cultural storytellers. Maybe it won’t be these films. Maybe it will be others. But the opportunities for the faith-based industry are there, and for the first time the creatives are setting themselves up to meet that moment.
This also has broader implications for American Christianity across all denominations beyond just movies. Religious people have always had more kids than non-religious people – although the gap has not always been so wide as it is now. But because secular people were making most of the movies, they were the ones primarily shaping the imagination of the next generation rather than religious parents.
The faith-based film industry — and Christianity in general — has come a long way in 20 years. It remains to be seen what that will mean for the next 20. But whatever that looks like, “Young Washington” and “The Resurrection of the Christ” are likely going to be bigger parts of it than anyone is expecting.
Joseph Holmes is an award-nominated filmmaker and culture critic living in New York. He is co-host of the podcast “The Overthinkers” and its companion website theoverthinkersjournal.world, where he discusses art, culture and faith with his fellow overthinkers. His other work and contact info can be found at josephholmesstudios.com.