Report: Faith-Based Movies Brought in More Money Than Their Liberal Counterparts in 2011

Hollywood films are often filled with sex, profanity and plenty of elements that serve as negative influences on the young people who may view them. That being said, a constant argument for these inclusions is that they are needed to sell tickets and to spark DVD sales. After all, "the people" want this sort of content. But is such an assessment accurate? Are the American people truly only interested in edgy story lines and themes?

A new report from Movieguide, a Christian entertainment group, flips this notion on its head, finding that, in 2011, American audiences actually preferred films with conservative themes and values over left-of-center ones by a six-to-one margin.

According to the massive, 760-page report, pro-American and conservative films like "Captain America," "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol," "Soul Surfer," "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" and others beat out more liberal films like "Super 9," "Ides of March,"  and "J. Edgar," among others.

While it may seem unbelievable to some, Movieguide also found that the stronger the Christian worldview, the more money films brought in. These Christian-motivated and themed films did so well by Movieguide's assessment that they earned, on average, four times as much in box office returns ($64.3 million versus #15.9 million).

As FOX News reports, films that focused on faith and redemption such as "Pirates of the Caribbean: Stranger Tides" and "The Help" brought in more income than movies with anti-Christian messaging or a humanist perspective (like "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and "The Hangover II").

Movieguide publisher Dr. Ted Baehr says that viewers want to see good overcome evil and justice prevail over tyranny. While they embrace these themes, Baehr claims that the public is turned off by "radical social engineering and big government programs." Similar findings emerged when examining DVD sales as well. FOX News continues:

In addition, Movieguide reports that among the Top 25 DVD sales last year for theatrical movies, 52 percent had at least a small amount of patriotic or pro-Christian content, while only 8 percent were considered to be on the left side of the spectrum.

Baehr also pointed out that more than three quarters of Americans (238 million people) and 2.3 billion people globally, identify themselves as Christians, and Hollywood is finally starting to realize that this niche is an important one.

The Blaze has covered faith in Hollywood before. A few months ago, we spoke with Stephen Kendrick who co-wrote and produced "Courageous," a Christian-themed film that came out in 2011. Additionally, we profiled Andrew Erwin and his upcoming movie "October Baby." During both interviews, Hollywood's reaction to the growing popularity of Christian films was discussed.

Read more about Movieguide's new report here.

(H/T: FOX News)