What would Jesus direct?

‘‘For studios to not recognise that’s an audience is like them saying, ‘We’re not marketing movies to men’,’’ Bock said. He and others on the panel said the turning point was Mel Gibson’s 2004 movie The Passion of the Christ, which surprised many in Hollywood by grossing more than $370 million in the US.

‘‘Until two months before it was released, it was pretty much known as the least commercial property in Hollywood,’’ said Michael Flaherty, whose production company was behind The Chronicles of Narnia and Because of Winn-Dixie, both with strong spiritual messages.

Ralph Winter, a producer at 20th Century Fox Films, said Fox’s home video department was leading the way in pushing for films for religious audiences. He said studios were looking for projects based on good stories likely to make entertaining movies, without being obvious efforts to proselytise and convert people.

Bock said even the upcoming The Da Vinci Code, condemned by many Christians for undermining their religion by saying Jesus was married and had children, was a movie that would probably be seen by a lot of Christians. “What they’ve come to believe is if the whole world wants to talk about Jesus, then let’s be ready to have that conversation,” he said.