Here’s today’s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture.

More data from Movieguide proving the box office power of positive entertainment.

1. In 2012 six Movieguide Award-winning films cracked the box office top ten. They included The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, Skyfall, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted. By contrast, not a single film nominated for a Best Picture Oscar made the list. So, when it comes to being in the mainstream of audience tastes, those of us who support positive, hopeful entertainment are it. It’s Hollywood’s elite that are niche.

2. Of last year’s top 25 films, about half (13) were PG-13. Six were PG and six were R. While none were G, PG-13 and PG film accounted for a combined 19 of the top 25 films. And, despite the success of the raunchy comedy Ted, the average U.S./Canada box office take for R-rated films dropped from just over $161 million in 2011 to just under $139 million in 2012.

3. Of the top 25 grossing films in the U.S. and Canada last year, those with positive Christian averaged over $357 million at the box office while those deemed by Movieguide to contain negative moral content brought in, on average, just over $65 Million.

4. Among the top 25 films in 2012, movies with some action/violence, on average, earned the most money but movies with no violence at all actually significantly outperformed those with graphic violence. The score between the latter categories was $214,030,500 to $199,891,469,

5. Despite the evidence above, the industry released 123 R-rated movies in 2012 (a 40.4% increase), 99 PG-13 movies (a 2.5% increase), 33 PG-rated films (a 25.7% increase) and just 5 G-rated offerings (a 79.4 decrease). Of that total count, PG movies averaged $54.2 billion B.O., compared to $54.0 billion for PG-13 films and just $21.3 for R-rated films.

So, the bottom line is that, despite the bottom line, Hollywood will make what it wants to make. It’s up to us to make and support the movies we want to see.

Note: I’m taking a week off to recharge my batteries, celebrate the 4th of July and follow-up on my my trip to LA last week. Hopefully, I’ll have something positive to report to you soon.  See you on July 8. Happy Independence Day, everybody!

Encourage one another and build each other up – 1 Thessalonians 5:11