Hollywood embraces God and the 'cowboy curious' to broaden audience

The script for the biblical epic "Mary," which tells the story of the Nativity from the perspective of Mary of Nazareth, languished in Hollywood for some 15 years before entering production.

As the independent film approached completion this September, it attracted interest from three major Hollywood studios and streaming giant Netflix NFLX.O, which emerged as the global distributor and released the movie this month.

"Mary" has ranked among Netflix's top 10 English-language movies, attracting 24.6 million views.

"The marketplace has changed dramatically over the past five years," said director D.J. Caruso. "Particularly in the epic or the high-quality, faith-based genre. There's a real desire or hunger out there now."

Hollywood is turning to God, the American West, and outdoor enthusiasts to capture a wider audience. Major film studios, wealthy investors, and streaming services are pouring money into faith-based movies, rodeos, and outdoor lifestyle programming as an alternative to superhero sagas or dramas heavy with sex and violence.

Studio executives, talent agents, and television showrunners told Reuters that the industry had recognized that it was missing broad swaths of the United States. Donald Trump’s election as president in November, buoyed by working-class voters, underscored the importance of programming to the whole country, not just cities on the coasts.

Hollywood has periodically mined the Bible for box office gold with films such as "The Ten Commandments" and "Noah." The success of Angel Studios' "Sound of Freedom," a 2023 thriller loosely based on the story of a Homeland Security agent who rescues children from sex trafficking, won over religious and conservative audiences and sparked new interest in the genre.

From Horror to Faith

Hollywood's master of modern horror, "Paranormal Activity" filmmaker Jason Blum, joined Lionsgate and other investors in backing The Wonder Project. This independent studio raised over $75 million to produce faith-based films and series for Amazon Prime Video. Its series about a biblical king, "House of David," will be released in February.

"There are an awful lot of people throughout the country that think this is exactly the type of programming they'd like to watch -- particularly with their families," said Lionsgate LION.O Vice Chairman Michael Burns.

Lionsgate renewed its partnership with Kingdom Story Company, the production company behind "Jesus Revolution."

Netflix, meanwhile, struck a multiyear deal with acclaimed filmmaker and actor Tyler Perry to produce faith-based films for the streaming service.

Some executives told Reuters that the industry recognized that it was missing broad regions of the U.S., with films and TV shows that garnered critical acclaim but drew a narrow audience.

The disparity is exemplified by the commercial success of Paramount Network's "Yellowstone," the Western family melodrama that swept America's heartland. Yellowstone's fifth-season finale attracted more than 11.4 million viewers—nearly four times as many as the 2023 Emmy-winning HBO series Succession.

Thomas Tull, founder of superhero movie producer Legendary Entertainment, recognized the opportunity before many others. With TWG Global and Guggenheim Partners CEO Mark Walter, he launched Teton Ridge in 2019, a Western sports, entertainment, and lifestyle brand built around rodeos. The company, owned by TWG Global, attracted additional investment from venture capitalist Jim Breyer and the Lee Bass family office.

The live competitions—bull riding, steer wrestling, and barrel racing—attract a global audience of 80 million people annually.

Cowboy Heroes

Teton Ridge saddled up last month by acquiring The Cowboy Channel and Cowgirl Channel, which secured exclusive media rights to more than 600 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association rodeos. That augments its collection of Western sports properties, which include the American Rodeo Contender Series, whose championship weekend is carried live on Fox Sports, and the "Let's Freakin' Rodeo" podcast, hosted by top-ranked tie-down roper Ty Harris and his cousin, filmmaker Cole Harris.

Meanwhile, Teton Ridge Entertainment explores Western stories in films, series, and documentaries. It is adapting the late bestselling author Louis L’Amour’s novel Fallon, set in the Old West, appealing to an audience CEO Deirdre Lester describes as the “cowboy curious.”

"Our mission is to make content for an underserved audience," said Teton Ridge Entertainment's president, Jillian Share. "Making stuff where it appeals to a much larger part of our country than a lot of the stuff that we -- myself included -- have been focused on for the last 20 years of my career.”

She called the cowboy “the first true, great American hero.”

“You look at superheroes, and you look at Marvel and DC, and you're like, what's more iconic than the cowboy?” Share said.

Veteran entertainment executive Peter Chernin's investment fund, The Chernin Group, became the principal investor in MeatEater in 2018. MeatEater is a blossoming media brand built around outdoorsman Steven Rinella, a best-selling author, podcaster, and host of a forthcoming History Channel series, “Hunting History.”

Some, however, feel sidelined by Hollywood’s pursuit of the American heartland. They worry executives have become fearful of being branded "woke," a label hurled at Walt Disney DIS.N by Florida Governor and former Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis.

In the final phase of negotiations for a streaming series featuring a diverse cast, one television showrunner learned a day after Trump’s election that the project would not go forward. The showrunner, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, saw a correlation between the programming decision and Trump’s victory.

Another development executive shared an email from one network executive, who rejected a project as too "political."

Earlier this year, the makers of "The Apprentice," a biopic about Trump, struggled to find a distributor even after an enthusiastic reception at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

An attorney for Trump sent a cease-and-desist letter to the filmmakers. Briarcliff Entertainment released the movie in October, and stars Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong were nominated for Golden Globe awards.

This week, Disney said it had removed a transgender storyline from upcoming Pixar animation series "Win or Lose." The character will remain in the show, but the few lines of dialogue referencing the character's gender identity have been removed.

"When it comes to animated content for a younger audience, we recognize that many parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects with their children on their terms and timeline," a Disney spokesperson said.