Mormon cinema

LDS or Mormon cinema refers a motion pictures with themes relevent to Latter-day Saints. Many of these films are screened extensively within high LDS population centers such as Utah, but they do not regularly reach mainstream viewers in other parts of the world.

The Mormon cinema movement began around 1999, when Richard Dutcher's company Zion Films released God's Army commercially. The film, which was produced on a budget of $300,000, grossed about $2.5 million at the box office and many more millions of dollars worth of video purchases. Observing the market success of God's Army, many other LDS studios began producing their films.

Although God's Army dealt with the overtly religious subject of LDS missionaries, and many LDS comedies are nearly incomprehensible to people outside The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a growing trend in LDS cinema is make LDS-themed movies more broadly accessible. The acclaimed World War II movie Saints and Soldiers is perhaps the most successful crossover LDS film to date.

Mormon cinema companies

• Zion Films
• Halestorm Entertainment
• Excel Distribution

Mormon cinema movies

Drama

• God's Army — 1999. First Mormon cinema film directed by Richard Dutcher.
• Brigham City — 2001. A murder mystery also by Dutcher.
• The Other Side of Heaven — 2001. Not by an LDS studio, but often counted as LDS cinema.
• The Book of Mormon Movie, Vol. 1: The Journey — 2003. Ambitious though critically panned movie about the Book of Mormon.
• Saints and Soldiers — 2004. A World War II movie produced by Excel that has significant mainstream appeal.
• Pillar of Light: The Work and The Glory — Forthcoming. With a $7.4 million budget, it is to be the most expensive LDS cinema film to date, and among the most anticipated. Based on Gerald Lund's LDS and historical fiction series The Work and the Glory.
• God's Army 2: States of Grace — Forthcoming.

Romance

• Jack Weyland's Charly — 2002. Based on a successful LDS fiction novel.
• Pride and Prejudice — 2003. Modern adaptation of Jane Austen novel Pride and Prejudice.

Comedy

Several comedies, mostly produced by Dave Hunter, have also been released. Because these film's humor often relies on Utah-centeric Latter-day Saint culture, they tend to have a smaller niche than the other LDS subgenres.

• The Single's Ward — 2002.
• The R.M. — 2003.
• The Home Teachers — 2004.

External link

• LDS cinema