A couple years ago, after the success of The Passion of the Christ, several film makers tried to tap into the Christian word-of-mouth marketing. I cringed (see: Hollywood: Turning the Christian Faith into a Marketing Gimmick) when I saw Rocky's newest film use a faith-based marketing approach. Marketing for Rocky included sermon resources at RockyResources where you could show clips of Rocky respecting Adrian and tie it into a sermon on Esther. After my posts, I was subsequently interviewed on NPR and labeled the 'Pastor who takes issue with Rocky'.
….but it looks like the bubble has burst. As Hollywood looks at the struggle of the latest Narnia film (which I haven't seen yet, but clearly this is more appropriate to connect to Christians than Rocky.) The Hollywood Reporter writes
Indeed, Adamson's first "Narnia" came on the heels of 2004's "The Passion of the Christ," which grossed $370 million domestically and tipped studios to a potentially untapped audience of faithful moviegoers.
But in the years since, studios that have waged extensive faith-based campaigns have garnered mixed results, leading some in Hollywood to lose faith in the practice.
Read The Hollywood Reporter's How effective is marketing to faith-based audiences?