Hollywood plays to the faithful, finds hits with God

Hollywood has embraced God in a big - and lucrative - way.

The movie Heaven is for Real tells the story of a young boy who claims to have visited Heaven during a near-death experience. It is the fourth faith-based film this year to stir moviegoers and chalk up impressive box office numbers.

Made for $12-million, the film, which stars Greg Kinnear, collected $21.5-million over the Easter weekend in US and Canadian cinemas, finishing third at the box office behind bigger budget films Captain America: The Winter Soldier, from Walt Disney, and Rio 2, from Fox.

Two other Bible-based films also cracked the top 10. Noah, from Viacom's Paramount Pictures, stars Russell Crowe as the biblical figure and was ninth.

It has generated more than $93-million in the US since opening last month, according to Box Office Mojo.

God's Not Dead, about a religious first-year college student who debates the existence of God with his professor, was 10th and has totalled $48-million in the US over five weeks.

Fox's Son of God, an adaptation of producer Mark Burnett's 10-hour TV mini series The Bible, generated more than $59-million after opening earlier this year.

In the last five years alone Hollywood has made 26 movies that Box Office Mojo classifies as "Christian" films.

"There's a core audience and they're very interested in seeing films with a faith-based centre," said Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution for Sony Pictures Entertainment, whose TriStar Pictures unit distributed Heaven is for Real.

"The one main ingredient most have is that they are somewhat inspirational," said Bruer.

"People feel like that they get something out of it."