The marketing machine that made The Passion of the Christ the highest grossing R-rated movie of all time last year is hoping for the same success with The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, which will hit theaters on December 9. And it's using the same tactic discovered in the Passion promotion campaign: sell it to the churches.

At an abbreviated screening reminiscent of Mel Gibson's Passion tour, the stepson of Narnia author C.S. Lewis, Douglas Gresham, encouraged church leaders to see the film. Gresham appeared at Wheaton (Ill.) Bible Church October 11, along with representatives of Motive Marketing, the firm promoting the film and resource kits for church use. (This is the same town where, incidentally, Lewis's actual wardrobe is housed.)

Narnia producers are counting on the church crowd much the same way as Gibson relied on evangelicals to talk up his movie, but with one notable exception: "Targeting children will be a main priority," says Mark Moring, online managing editor of music and film websites for ChristianityToday.com. "That obviously wasn't the case with The Passion."

Moring predicts that Narnia will be a bigger moneymaker than Gibson's film. "I think Narnia will exceed The Passion in revenue because it's a movie that the whole family can watch. After The Passion was over, we didn't say 'Hey, let's go watch that again.' But Narnia is a movie that people will go back to see four or five times."

Narnia is already capturing attention in Christian circles, and many church leaders are noting its potential as an evangelism tool. "We can't sit back and wait for people to come in the doors of our church. We have to go get them where they're at, and this movie seems like it's going to be a great way to do that," says Nancy Barton, women's ministry pastor at Wheaton Bible Church.

"I think there is a lot of potential for using this movie," Matthew Gunter, rector of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, told the Chicago Sun-Times. Gunter said his church will likely organize groups to see the movie and discuss it.

To help church leaders effectively steer dialogue before and after viewing Narnia, Motive Marketing has partnered with several religious publishers to produce outreach resources. Available resources include posters, door hangers, resource DVDs, event guides, web downloads, and more.

"With these resources, we want to provide 'talking points' so that church leaders can guide the conversation about this movie," Jarvis Ward said at the Chicago-area screening. Ward is a representative of Mission America, one of the organizations producing the outreach material. Another is Outreach Magazine, which is offering customizable Sunday school lessons for children, sermon series materials, and more. These materials can be found at www.outreach.com.

Crossway/Good News Publications also offers family study guides to Narnia that are designed to help children and families better understand the film's biblical parallels and truths. These resources are available at www.gnpcb.org.

Rob Rienow, family ministry pastor at Wheaton Bible says that his church made extensive use of outreach materials and events for The Passion, and says that similar plans could be in the works for Narnia. Rienow tells Leadership that his main hope is that "as our people invite their unchurched friends to see this movie, that they would be praying and planning about how to turn the corner spiritually after this is all over."

While church leaders may see Narnia as an opportunity to address spiritual issues with people in their community, the creative team of Motive Marketing, Walden Media, and Walt Disney Productions may see the Christian community as a simply another tool for promotion, much like alliances that place cartoon characters on McDonald's Happy Meals. "For the most part, I think cooperation is beneficial to both sides," says Pat Hargis, C.S. Lewis enthusiast and associate professor at Judson (Ill.) College. "However, I would be concerned about a situation in which a film director or marketing machine tries to take advantage of the church by convincing Christians to go see a movie that does not exhibit Christian values. That said, I don't think that will be a problem with Narnia."

Quentin Schultze, professor of communication at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, suggests an even more cautionary approach. "Every social group should worry about being taken advantage of by Hollywood," Schultze said. "Moviemakers generally are more interested in getting various groups to buy and rent films than they are in serving those groups. Christians might be more gullible in the sense that they tend to believe various religious leaders who champion or criticize the latest movies even if the leaders have not seen the films and do not have a very good ability to interpret and evaluate them.

"Factor in the Christian bandwagon effect, and one can see how Christians can be taken advantage of, even as they seek to do what is right," Schultze said.

One of the biggest challenges that Motive, Walden, Disney have faced in marketing the film is convincing various audiences that their film has remained true to C.S. Lewis's beloved classic book. Because the book has been read and revered by audiences of all kinds, especially young children, and many within the educational community, "getting it right" has been a huge challenge for everyone involved with Narnia.

Walden Media President Micheal Flaherty told Moring of Christianitytoday.com that it's not just the children, teachers, librarians, and parents that have created all of this pressure; it's the whole Christian subculture, too. "It's my pastor. Do you know what I mean? It's every accountability partner I have. I mean it's … Yes, the pressure is insane."

One concern among Christians is that Aslan not be portrayed simply as an awe-inspiring lion, but that he remains an apparent Christ figure. Flaherty maintains that if that is evident to some people in the book, then it will be evident to them in the movie. "I think that's the officially sanctioned diplomatic answer," he adds, laughing.

Additional outreach materials for Narnia can be accessed at www.narniaresources.com.

Abram Book is editorial resident for Leadership.

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