posted 03-18-2004 01:16 AM                    

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By Me: Portions of India are known for it's persecution of christians. You seem to be quite pleased with the results so far whereas it's not someone from America's first thought that someone from India would be so excited about this film. Have you noticed a general negative reaction about the film in India or is all the hostility located in more remote areas of India?

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By Pravin Ratnam: Oh by the way, Kevin mentioned something about mistreatment of Christians in India. It is very isolated and really not a problem.

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posted 03-18-2004 12:38 PM                    

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The attacks in India on Christian missionaries and on Muslim populations are not, contrary to what the media makes out, acts of the general population.

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posted 03-18-2004 02:32 PM                    

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Anyway, I suppose if we discuss this any more we should go to email or PM with it. Feel free to send me either.

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posted 03-22-2004 01:59 AM                       

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After The Passion, Hollywood asks: what about the sequel?
By Charles Laurence in New York
The Sunday Telegraph, 21 March 2004

The blockbusting success of Mel Gibson's controversial The Passion of the Christ has prompted a scramble in Hollywood to develop more "films of faith" and cash in on a new genre. As receipts from Gibson's depiction of Jesus's final hours soared through the $300 million (£163 million) barrier after its third week at the box office, studio executives who originally refused to finance The Passion were left wondering how best to exploit the new trend.

The film's phenomenal popularity was further underlined last week when the "book of the movie", which costs $25, shot into second place on the New York Times bestseller lists. The coffee-table collection of still photographs taken on the set includes grisly close-ups of James Caviezel, who plays Christ. Images of Jesus's flayed back, and of his feet twisted and nailed to the cross, are captioned with quotations from the Gospels.

American television networks, which can move more quickly than Hollywood, have already tried to cash in on the passion for The Passion - which is previewed before selected audiences in Britain this week and goes nationwide on Friday - with little success. When ABC screened its television film Judas, a lacklustre production about Jesus's wayward disciple, it lost out in the ratings to a soap opera.

Undaunted, a second network, NBC, has commissioned a pilot episode for a series called Revelations. Based on the Book of Revelations, it features a scientist and a nun who find themselves coming to terms with faith in the Bible as the events of Armageddon begin to unfold. Gibson himself offered Hollywood a possible follow-up when he appeared on a television chat show: a film about the revolt of the Maccabees, the Bible story behind the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. The sect revolted against the Greek king Antiochus IV two centuries before the birth of Christ, liberated Jerusalem and rededicated the Temple. "The Maccabees family stood up, and they made war," said Mr Gibson. "They stuck by their guns and they came out winning. It's like a Western."

Hollywood's attention, however, has been caught by the sales rather than the theology. Before The Passion was released, industry predictions were that the film's evangelical message, and its Latin and Aramaic dialogue, would deter cinemagoers. Gibson, a devout Roman Catholic, produced and directed the film using £16.3 million of his own money. Now, however, it has entered the commercial stratosphere occupied by The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and Titanic. "Something is going on here," said Peter Guber, a producer and chairman of Mandalay Entertainment, and a former head of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

"The Passion was brilliantly marketed through controlled political and religious controversy, and there are people going to see it for the R-rated [adult] violence, but the key question for the rest of us is whether its sweet spot is its religious fervour. It looks as if we have to assume that it is. And with the money up to $300 million, I can guarantee that emulators and imitators will be looking to repeat the formula."

Paul Dergarabedian of Exhibitor Relations, which tracks box office returns, said that receipts in America and Canada could reach £245 million by the end of the Easter weekend. "If The Passion continues on this trajectory, it's possible for it to surpass Star Wars, which took $461 million in America and Canada and even Titanic [£327.7 million]. People who have never seen an R-rated film are seeing this one," Mr Dergarabedian said.

It is the age and demographic range of the audience that has startled the entertainment industry. Bob Berney, the head of Newmarket Films, which agreed to distribute The Passion after Gibson had been spurned by the leading studios, said that The Passion had done predictably well in the Bible Belt, but had also outsold all other films in industrial areas such as Detroit. "It's getting teens and college kids, and urban areas are doing great. There's a strong Latino and African-American component to the audience," he said.

Tyndale House, a publisher of Christian publications, confirmed that its "book of the movie" was being bought by an equally wide range of people. The first 150,000-copy print run sold out in days, and the book is now going into its eighth edition. There are signs that The Passion is also becoming a cult "horror" film, promoted on websites popular with young men. One website described it as: "The bloodiest, goriest, flesh-rippingest film your church-going grandma will ever want to see. Jesus's ripped flesh becomes a horror make-up artist's dream."

Mr Guber believes that the mixture of gory presentation and the religious fervour of Gibson himself, will not be easily reproduced by Hollywood. "There are three attractions," he said. "The religious controversy, the peer-group pressure, which makes The Passion a 'must see' and the hedonistic element which is really attracted to an excuse to see extreme violence.

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posted 04-02-2004 12:26 PM                       

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I feel that countless films have failed to earn what they otherwise would have, all because of 'PASSION'. All the funny films like 'Dawn..' and 'Scooby .." could have made some more if not for 'PASSION'.

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Proving once and for all that the SINGLE SCREEN theatre is the best format. Quick, to the bulldozers!

posted 04-04-2004 12:47 PM                    

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I feel that countless films have failed to earn what they otherwise would have, all because of 'PASSION'. All the funny films like 'Dawn..' and 'Scooby .." could have made some more if not for 'PASSION'.

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HOGWASH!!

(Scenario 1, punk highschool kids) "Hey man, you wanna go see Dawn of the Dead tonight?" -- "No way, dude. I would MUCH rather go see the last moments of Christ's life as told by Mel Gibson!" -- "You're right. Screw Dawn of the Dead! Let's see Passion!" (Sorry! Not happening...)

(Scenario 2, mom and 5 year old girl.) "Hey sweetie! Do you want to go see Scooby Doo today?" -- "Well, not really mommie. I would rather you take me to see that Jesus man get beaten for two hours." -- "Okay, dearie! It's your choice..." -- "YAAAY! Can I get popcorn and candy, too?" (Again... not happening)

Remember that a lot of people going to see Passion are people who haven't been to the movies for a long time, if at all, as referenced by one of the 420 Passion threads on here.

A more believable example would be with Titanic. It held on to the #1 spot for nearly 15 weeks. THAT deprived other movies of success, especially since it was released during the holiday movie period. Not until Lost in Space in April did it drop to #2, and slowly sink thereafter.

Passion has been at #1 for just 3 weeks, and is currently down to #6. I am willing to safely bet money, in US currency please, that this film WILL NOT break $400m at the box office domestically. Guaranteed. So calm down.

=TMP=

P.S. I would like to add gleefully that not only HELLboy, but Home on the Range have beat out Passion this week.