BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: Sunday night (February 24) is Oscar night in Hollywood, and we have a report on Hollywood and religion. After the success of "The Passion of the Christ" in 2004, many in the religious community expected a new crop of faith-related movies. But that has not happened, as Kim Lawton reports.

KIM LAWTON: This year's Oscar nominees for best picture portray some complex moral dilemmas: a pregnant teen figuring out what to do; a lawyer in an ethical crisis; a Western saga overwhelmed by evil; a romance doomed by lies; a clash between an oil man and a greedy evangelist. But except for the unsavory clergyman in "There Will Be Blood," and perhaps the title "Atonement," there's little explicit treatment of religion.

In 2004, Mel Gibson's controversial movie "The Passion of the Christ" took in more than half a billion dollars. Film studios began looking for the next big hit to rake in what became known as "the Passion dollars."

DICK STAUB (Author and Broadcaster): Hollywood discovered there was money to be made off of those pesky Christians.

LAWTON: Author and broadcaster Dick Staub analyzes the intersection between faith and pop culture. He says in the wake of "The Passion," there was a perception that Hollywood had finally found religion. Numerous new projects were launched. But four years later, there still aren't a lot of faith-based blockbusters on the big screen.

Mr. STAUB: What people in Hollywood hoped was that they would find a formula that would kind of be a cash cow, kind of printing money off the backs of religious people. It hasn't turned out that way so far.

LAWTON: Evangelicals in particular had long felt shut out by Hollywood. Many were thrilled in September 2006 when 20th Century Fox launched a new division called Fox Faith. The announcement was greeted with great fanfare and the expectation of a new flood of movies for Christians. Fox executive vice-president of home entertainment Simon Swart says his company wanted to target what he calls an "underserved" segment of the market.

SIMON SWART (Executive Vice-President, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment): Really what this initiative was about was releasing and distributing films that reflected back Judeo-Christian values -- weren't necessarily evangelical or preachy, but basically great story telling that reflected those values.

LAWTON: Since that announcement, Fox Faith has focused primarily on acquiring already produced projects to release for video sale and rental. Some have overt faith themes, but many are being marketed as "family-friendly." There've been few original productions. Many Fox Faith films have not done well at the box office, although they've been more successful on DVD.

Several Fox Faith projects have been based on bestselling Christian books, such as the popular "Love Comes Softly" romance series, and "Saving Sarah Cain," also based on a Christian bestseller. "Sarah Cain" wasn't released in theaters. It debuted on the Lifetime cable network and then was released last month on DVD.

Swart acknowledges that Fox Faith is re-evaluating whether to even attempt future releases in theaters.

SWART: I think the difficulty with the theatrical releasing strategy is there's so much competition for every screen out there, and you're really competing with the main line pictures. And it's very hard to take a film that's a relatively small film and make it an event without investing really heavily in that release. And that's really risky because you -- it's very hard to get that money back again.

LAWTON: Critics say it comes down to the resources Fox is willing to commit.

Mr. STAUB: Generally to make a good film, you've got to spend money, and Fox Faith has not spent good money. Therefore they're not making good films. Therefore they're not successful.

LAWTON: Some film insiders raise concerns about labeling. Last year's "The Ultimate Gift" was a heart-warming lessons-about-life story with big name actors who had no idea they were part of a "Christian" movie. The producers later questioned whether the Fox Faith label scared off a mainstream audience.

JONATHAN BOCK (Founder and President, Grace Hill Media): I would compare it, honestly, to the, maybe the '60s in African-American films that, you know, "blacksploitation" films that they were making, you know, little, teeny movies, you know, for their own audience. And that's kind of where Hollywood is right now. They're letting Christians make million dollar movies that go directly into Christian book stores.

LAWTON: In Los Angeles, Jonathan Bock runs a company called Grace Hill Media, which he says tries to bridge the gap between Hollywood and the religious community. Formerly with Warner Brothers, Bock now promotes big-budget films to churches and Christian leaders.

Mr. BOCK: We have a database of about 75,000 pastors that we regularly invite to screenings. We don't want to be in a position of just telling them this is good for you, so there you go. We want them to find out for themselves.

LAWTON: Last year, in a promotional gimmick, Bock's company convinced the evangelical flagship magazine Christianity Today to run a mock-cover featuring the film "Evan Almighty." He says the studios' willingness to commit such big ad money shows Hollywood's growing respect for the religious audience.

Mr. BOCK: They knew this audience was out there. They really thought, you know, that this film would resonate with Christian families.

LAWTON: But "Evan Almighty" wasn't a box office hit. Neither were two other movies targeted to Christians, "The Nativity Story" released in 2006 and "Amazing Grace" in early 2007, although all did better in video sales and rentals.

Even the most veteran insiders are seeing how tough it is to make a good faith-related film with or without big studio backing. David Kirkpatrick is the former president of Paramount Pictures. He's also an evangelical, and in 2005 he co-founded a Christian entertainment company called Good News Holdings.

DAVID KIRKPATRICK (Co-Founder and Director, Traditional Media, Good News Holdings): Historically, there really hasn't been, in the last 50 years, a platform for Christians in the areas of movies. But what it provides for those who are dedicated to glorifying God, it gives those who really want to try to make a difference and create an alternative voice an opportunity.

LAWTON: One of Good News Holdings' first projects was a film adaptation of author Anne Rice's book "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt," about Jesus at the age of seven. By late 2006, with Rice's active blessing, they had hired actors and were doing readings of the script. Then last year the project was quietly scrapped and other Good News movie projects also apparently put on hold. No one even answers the phone at the old corporate number, and the Web site hasn't been updated in months. Kirkpatrick is now working on a reality TV project in Plymouth, Massachusetts. He did not respond to our calls.

Many observers say there's a lingering disconnect between the Hollywood establishment and religion.

Mr. STAUB: People in Hollywood have no clue how religious people, conservative religious people, think. Therefore they have no idea how to green light a film that would actually make sense to religious people.

Mr. SWART: I have a slightly different point of view because I think it actually goes back the other way also. I don't think the church quite understands Hollywood, and Hollywood's very much for-profit. I've had a lot of people presenting stories to me that they feel really strongly about, and they're very overt in their message, and it's very powerful. But, you know, I would ask them, the question is who will pay, you know, $10 to see this?

LAWTON: And still another complication: studios, like politicians, are discovering that evangelical Christians are not a monolithic crowd. Some like the traditional "donkey and sandal" biblical epics. Some like sentimental flicks with a happy ending and no swear words. But still others want films that explore faith issues with an edge.

Mr. STAUB: I mean, the Christian story has a resurrection, but it also has a lot of messiness in it. It has a lot of reality in it. So if you want to tell the Christian story, it's not just a feel good story. It's a story that has substantial pain and suffering and sorrow in it, just like our lives do.

LAWTON: Despite the fits and starts, filmmakers and studios alike say they remain committed to exploring faith-related movies on many fronts.

Mr. SWART: We're only in the initial stages, I feel like. I think this is something that's growing, and we're learning along the way.

LAWTON: One project likely to generate momentum: Disney and Walden Media have teamed up on "Prince Caspian," the second installment of C.S. Lewis's popular "Chronicles of Narnia" book series. That's scheduled to hit the big screen on May 16.

I'm Kim Lawton in Los Angeles.