The filmmaker who produced such box office hits as Breakthrough and Miracles from Heaven says Hollywood is more open to faith-based content than ever before. DeVon Franklin was a producer on 2019's Breakthrough, which grossed $40 million, and 2016's Miracles from Heaven, which grossed $61 million, and also produced The Star (2017) and Flamin' Hot (2023). Moviegoers saw him on-screen in Jesus Revolution (2023) and Woodlawn (2015).
The pandemic, he said, changed how faith films are perceived.
"For faith films, I think it actually has opened the door," Franklin told Crosswalk Headlines, referencing the pandemic. "I've never seen Hollywood more open to faith in terms of different companies doing deals with content creators like myself, committing to making movies and television shows for the faith space. So I think the pandemic actually had a positive effect on the space, and I've seen more opportunity in it from a mainstream standpoint than before."
The direness of the pandemic, he explained, led Americans to seek out more inspiring content.
"A lot of the content that was working during the pandemic, and post-pandemic was inspirational content, uplifting content," Franklin said. "So you look at the success of like Jesus Revolution and Sound of Freedom, and my film, Flamin Hot, and so many others. So, these films came out post-pandemic. They were made during the pandemic and came out post-pandemic, and those movies have been massively successful.
"And I think the combination of seeing which audiences were viewing content during the pandemic, which audiences were showing up to theaters post-pandemic, realizing the faith audience has been strong in both verticals -- so as a result, Hollywood says, 'Okay, we've got to finally lean into this and start committing to the space.'"
This summer, Franklin and Tyler Perry Studios announced a multi-year, multi-project deal with Netflix. Their first film will spotlight Ruth and Boaz.
"We're working on a Bible story," Franklin told Crosswalk Headlines. "We're going to … reimagine the story of Ruth and Boaz, and we're calling it R&B. … We start production in October, and this movie will be on Netflix next year."
Franklin's passion for movies began in his childhood.
"My father died when I was nine years old of a heart attack when he was 36 -- and it was going to church and watching movies that became my therapy," Franklin said. "And I just really felt like if Hollywood could do that for me, it could do it for others. And that really was the seed that sparked my passion to be an inspirational storyteller.”
Photo Credit: ©Instagram/devonfranklin
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.