quote:

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the rough handling of Jesus by the Jews

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I wouldn't say they quite rolled out the red carpet for him.

 

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Posted by R. Andrew Diercks (Member # 1725) on 02-08-2004, 12:39 PM:
 
I think this film will have more repeat viewings than LOTR series. I also think it will reach the largest population base in history. Once many adults see the film, it will encourage them to take their children, even with the R rating. I am confident that in many markets, it will be the highest grossing film they've ever played.

quote:

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The enormous success of this film will do many things to the Motion picture industry worldwide.

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quote:

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heavenly B.O.

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now that sounds like a true miracle.

carl
 

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Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 02-11-2004, 03:26 PM:
 
I think it would make more money if it was from Mel Brooks and called something like "The History of the Lord Part 1" or something. Would be funny to see Jesus as an omnipetent, yet down-to-earth Jewish boy.

What's the running time on this? Isn't it over 3 hours or something? That will surely cut into grosses.

Another christian movie that got this much hype was that "Omega Code" piece of crap. Largest auditorium, advance tickets, huge frenzy the first few days... two weeks later it was gone.

=TMP=
 

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Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 02-11-2004, 05:52 PM:
 
$80 million North American.

I'm betting that it doesn't surpass Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon for top grossing subtitled film.
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 02-11-2004, 06:30 PM:
 
I have a feeling this movie is going to be a lot different than that "Omega Code" crap, but I don't see it having the repeat business frenzy of a Star Wars film or the like.

HOWEVER, it's going to attract thousands of people who don't regularly go to movies. I already have had one such person ask me about it, and she said "I haven't been to a movie theatre in 32 years, so I'm looking forward to it."

As I see it, this movie has the potential not only to do big biz, but also to create many NEW moviegoers. People who have gotten used to TV sound on their crappy old Zeniths will be exposed to the BIG sound and BIG picture of the movie theatre. I am looking forward to seeing a lot of unfamiliar faces.
 

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Posted by Linda Welch (Member # 2088) on 02-11-2004, 08:26 PM:
 
Actually, the running time is just a little more than 2 hours. Like 2:07
 

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Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 02-11-2004, 10:49 PM:
 
I didn't clock it but that seems about right.

I'm disappointed that they didn't open it with an overture...that is, a few minutes of appropriate mood-setting music with a black screen ahead of the logo.
 

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Posted by William Hooper (Member # 71) on 02-12-2004, 12:14 AM:
 
A co-worker said that his wife mentioned that she was interested, but will not go to see the movie because Mel Gibson's movies tend to be bloody & violent - Braveheart, etc.
 

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Posted by Paul Rich (Member # 243) on 02-12-2004, 05:38 PM:
 
I'm not sure about how the film will do nationally, but locally, it will be HUGE for the first few weeks.

So far we have 3 prints, and on a few days we have the entire day of shows bought out by different church groups. We are selling 200-500 tickets at a time to groups every day. And then we have special shows in the mornings being set up all the time.

So I don't know about different areas of the country, but in this area, it's going crazy.

It will be very interesting to see what happens with this film.
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 02-15-2004, 01:38 AM:
 
This newsreport by Foxnews that PASSION OF CHRIST wont play in several important theatres in major markets and that, the target for this film, as chosen by its distributor, is mostly poor neighbourhoods, should it be true, accounts for an unprecedented criteria for reach of a religious themed film and may spoil the calculations for Box Office.

Quote :

Gibson's 'Passion' in Very 'Select' Theatres

Friday, February 13, 2004
By Roger Friedman

Gibson's 'Passion' to Open in 'Select' Theatres Only

If you live on the west side of Manhattan, on most of western Long Island, or in Beverly Hills and you want to see Mel Gibson's controversial new movie "The Passion of the Christ," you will be out of luck.

When the film — which some critics are calling anti-Semitic and inflammatory — opens on Feb. 25, it will be in very select theatres only.

Even though the makers of "The Passion of the Christ" are touting its 2,000 screen premiere, the movie's Web site and another Web site, moviefone.com, tell a very different story.

For example, in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, the film will play in a handful of out-of-the-way-theatres — one in Times Square, two in fringe areas of the East Side, one second-run theatre at Broadway and 100th St. and one in Harlem. There will be one screen below 34th St, and none from 42nd St. to 96th St. on the West Side. This excludes all prestige venues like the Ziegfeld, the Paris, the Beekman and Sony Lincoln Square.

Theater-goers will also be hard-pressed to find "The Passion of the Christ" in Nassau County, Long Island on either the south or north shore, or in affluent Westchester County, New York.

The pattern, for the most part, highlights black neighborhoods and poor neighborhoods. For example, all the Magic Johnson theatres in the country will show the movie, as will multiplexes in urban centers.

Gibson obviously thinks there's a potential problem in Chicago, where "Passion" will be on only two screens. Otherwise, Chicagoans will have to go to the suburbs.

The same goes for the wealthier and trendier parts of Los Angeles such as Beverly Hills and Century City. Those who are curious will have to seek their "Passion" in odd places, in out-of-the-way cineplexes. You won't be able to see it at the Beverly Center, for example. But four theatres in economically less desirable San Jose, Calif. will show the film.

All of this seems designed to keep "The Passion of the Christ" out of neighborhoods that are considered Jewish, upscale or liberal.

On the other hand, Tennessee is targeted for "The Passion of the Christ" with eight locations in Memphis and four each in Nashville and Knoxville. The number of theaters in many more states like Florida, Kentucky, Alabama and Oklahoma is high, especially in rural areas. In Florida, for example, Jacksonville and Tampa — more northern and central cities — will have "Passion" on four or more screens, while typically Jewish areas like Boca Raton will have it one screen if at all.

In Miami, where there's a huge Catholic-Cuban population, "The Passion of the Christ" will play in 10 theaters. In Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth areas of Texas, there are the same number of theaters or more. Texas, in fact, will offer the most opportunities in the country to see the film.

Newmarket Films, which is distributing the movie, seems to have picked a pattern that concentrates heavily on the south and the Midwest, focusing on the Bible Belt and locations where "The Passion of the Christ" will meet with the least resistance. West Virginia will have about three times as many theaters as Rhode Island, for example. Vermonters have three theatres while their more conservative next-door neighbors in New Hampshire, a state equal in size, will have twelve.

Calls to Newmarket and to its public relations firm were not returned to this column yesterday. But in the positioning of "The Passion of the Christ," Gibson has consciously created a divisive atmosphere for the presentation of his film. For example, he has screened the movie widely for groups on the religious right while avoiding all mainstream groups, as well as film critics for fear of poor advance word.

"The Passion of the Christ" has come under intense criticism for being anti-Semitic from many groups Jewish and otherwise as well as journalists who've seen advance prints. In the current issue of Newsweek, reporter Jon Meacham also accuses director Gibson of completely changing historical references to suit his own agenda in an article called "Who Killed Jesus?"

Meacham writes: "To take the film's account of the 'Passion' literally will give most audiences a misleading picture of what probably happened in those epochal hours so long ago. The Jewish priests and their followers are the villains, demanding the death of Jesus again and again; Pilate is a malleable governor forced into handing down the death sentence."

The battle over "The Passion of the Christ" is coming quickly now, and I for one am sorry that Gibson and Newmarket chose to keep it out of places where they thought the reception would be less than positive. Everyone should have the chance to see this film and decide for themselves if Gibson has done the right or wrong thing with his $25 million.

What will be interesting is seeing how the annual Oscar party given by Gibson's agent, Ed Limato, at his palatial Beverly Hills home will be received two days after the movie's premiere. And then there are the Oscars, where Billy Crystal is no doubt thinking of clever ways to spoof the movie.

Link here :
Gibson's 'Passion' to Open in 'Select' Theatres Only

-----------------------------------------------

I hope this news article is completely wrong. I just do not believe this article at all.

Some criticisms against this article have already surfaced and it remains for the distributor, Newmarket films to confirm or deny the Fox news article.

-------------------------------------------------
Criticism levelled by Worldnetdaily.Com

Quote :

Fox accused of twisting facts on 'Passion'
Catholic leader shows film not selectively distributed, as charged

Posted: February 14, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

The head of a Catholic group challenged a Fox News online column that criticizes Mel Gibson for "selectively distributing" his film "The Passion of the Christ" to avoid upscale, liberal and Jewish areas.

William Donohue, president of the Catholic League, however, insists Fox News columnist Roger Friedman has his facts all wrong.

Friedman, after detailing where he believes the movie will be shown, says Gibson "consciously created a divisive atmosphere for the presentation of his film."

The Fox contributor said, "All this seems designed to keep 'The Passion of the Christ' out of neighborhoods that are considered Jewish, upscale, or liberal."

Donahue responded:

"Roger Friedman says the movie will be shown in two Chicago theaters; in fact it will be shown in seven. He says it will not be shown in the L.A. neighborhood of Century City; in fact it will be shown at the AMC in Century City.
"He says it will not be shown in the 'wealthier and trendier parts' of Los Angeles; in fact it will be shown in Marina del Rey, Burbank and Santa Monica. He says it will not be shown in New York's Upper West Side; in fact it will be shown at 86th and Broadway. He says it will be shown only in the 'fringe areas' of the Upper East Side; in fact it will be shown at 86th and 3rd and 64th and 2nd.

"He says it will be shown at one theater below 34th Street; in fact it will be shown at three. He says it will be hard to find in Nassau County, Long Island; in fact it will be shown in seven theaters there. He says that theater-goers will be 'hard pressed' to find it in ‘either the south or north shore’ of Long Island; in fact it will be shown in towns like Glen Cove and Port Washington on the north shore and Merrick and Seaford on the south shore.

"He says those who live in Westchester will also find it difficult to see the movie; in fact it will be shown in Larchmont, New Rochelle and Yonkers. And so on."

Donahue suggested, wryly, "taking a course in Geography 101 might cure some of Friedman's problems, but it would not be enough."

"That's because his forced conclusion suggests something else is at work: To say that Gibson is intentionally keeping the film away from Jews and the rich is not only flatly wrong, it smacks of malice," he said. "We look for Fox to correct itself."

Friedman cited the movie's website and another website, moviefone.com, as sources for where the film will be screened.

He said the pattern for the film's distribution, "for the most part, highlights black neighborhoods and poor neighborhoods. For example, all the Magic Johnson theatres in the country will show the movie, as will multiplexes in urban centers."

Newmarket Films, which is distributing the movie, Friedman said, "seems to have picked a pattern that concentrates heavily on the south and the Midwest, focusing on the Bible Belt and locations where 'The Passion of the Christ' will meet with the least resistance."

Friedman said his calls to Newmarket and to its public relations firm were not returned.

Noting the charges of anti-Semitism against Gibson and the film, Friedman writes: "The battle over 'The Passion of the Christ' is coming quickly now, and I for one am sorry that Gibson and Newmarket chose to keep it out of places where they thought the reception would be less than positive. Everyone should have the chance to see this film and decide for themselves if Gibson has done the right or wrong thing with his $25 million."

The columnist said it will "be interesting in seeing how the annual Oscar party given by Gibson's agent, Ed Limato, at his palatial Beverly Hills home will be received two days after the movie's premiere. And then there are the Oscars, where Billy Crystal is no doubt thinking of clever ways to spoof the movie."

Link to the Worldnetdaily.com story :
Catholic leader shows film not selectively distributed, as charged
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 02-15-2004, 08:59 AM:
 
Yes. The Fox news article on controversial release pattern for PASSION OF CHRIST is already generating a storm, inviting major opposition and denial from some more.

Here is one from MovieCityNews.Com

----------------------------------
Quote :
Breathtakingly inaccurate and malicious fairy tale by Roger Friedman, printed at FoxNews.com

ROGER FRIEDMAN'S BLOOD LIBEL
AGAINST THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST
by David Poland

Sometimes, a journalist makes a mistake. And sometimes, a journalist makes a mistake that is so heinous and easily remedied by any fact checking that the person's publisher deserves to be threatened with litigation and the person in question deserves to lose their job.

Such is the story with today's breathtakingly inaccurate and malicious fairy tale by Roger Friedman, printed at FoxNews.com regarding the release pattern of The Passion of The Christ. The premise of this unresearched mess is that Newmarket Films and Mel Gibson are avoiding big cities and Jewish populations with the theatrical release pattern of the film.

There has been no journalist who has been more critical of Gibson's self-fulfilling-prophecy style of showing this film selectively, building a furor when he is publicly claiming to be fearful that one will erupt, than myself. However, a major media outlet propagating false information in an attack on the film - especially when suggesting that it is news and not opinion - is beyond any acceptable idea of journalistic ethics.

Moreover, for Roger Friedman, a Jew, to so incautiously swing these lies around like a bag full of angry cats is, in my opinion, deeply damaging to Jews everywhere who do not wish to be accused of being willing to stoop to any depth in order to maintain our position in society.

I am not sure that Roger Friedman meant to put such a blatant factual lie in print. I am sure his editors would have stopped it had they known. But Friedman failed to do the most basic job of being a journalist… checking out the facts. Instead, he lazily went to one internet source, apparently unaware of two basic facts: 1. Ticket sales websites are not well designed for long-range presales. 2. There is no movie ticket sales website that offers tickets to all the theaters in any major market.

It took me all of two minutes to find out that Roger Friedman's facts were incorrect. I went to two web sites and made one phone call.

FRIEDMAN ACCUSATION: "In the borough of Manhattan in New York City, the film will play in a handful of out-of-the-way-theatres - one in Times Square, two in fringe areas of the East Side, one second-run theatre at Broadway and 100th St. and one in Harlem. There will be one screen below 34th St, and none from 42nd St. to 96th St. on the West Side. This excludes all prestige venues like the Ziegfeld, the Paris, the Beekman and Sony Lincoln Square."

THE TRUTH: Friedman is correct in asserting that the film will not be playing in The Ziegfield, The Paris or The Beekman. As much as the good folks at The Paris or The Beekman might like to have The Passion of The Christ sell out show after show at their theaters, putting the film into those theaters would suggest that the release of The Passion was, as Friedman falsely claims, opening in "select theaters only." Additionally, the film is playing at the Regal at 64th and 2nd, which Friedman claims is a "fringe area." Small fringe apparently, as it is 3 whole blocks away from his beloved Beekman.

As for The Ziegfield, one of the few important single-screen theaters still standing in Manhattan, currently playing, ironically, Miracle, I spoke to someone at Clearview Cinemas, who confirmed that The Passion of The Christ was not booked into the theater. However, Clearview did book the film into their Chelsea West Cinema. The film booker for Clearview was gone for the weekend when I called, so I couldn't ask whether there was any nefarious reason why the film was not playing there, 11 whole blocks away from the AMC Empire.

Had Friedman bothered to check just a tiny bit closer, even just using Moviefone, he would have found that the release pattern for Manhattan is almost identical to another very controversial movie opening this weekend… 50 First Dates. The two films are booked into eight of the same venues in Manhattan, including Friedman's "one in Harlem." In fact, the only theater 50 First Dates is playing in Manhattan that The Passion is not is Loews Cineplex Lincoln Square… though The Passion will be playing at Loews Cineplex's 84th St & Broadway multiplex, where 50 First Dates is not scheduled.

So I guess we can look for the story from Friedman on Tuesday about the slight against people with short-term memory loss in Manhattan. Funny, but I don't think they'd even remember being slighted.

Moving on to Los Angeles…

FRIEDMAN ACCUSES: "The same goes for the wealthier and trendier parts of Los Angeles such as Beverly Hills and Century City. Those who are curious will have to seek their "Passion" in odd places, in out-of-the-way cineplexes. You won't be able to see it at the Beverly Center, for example. But four theatres in economically less desirable San Jose, Calif. will show the film."

THE TRUTH: If Friedman wanted to make any effort - it took me one 30-second phone call - he could have found out that The Passion of The Christ is playing Pacific's theater at The Grove, the highest grossing theater in America these days - smack in the middle of a Hassidic neighborhood - even though the ticket sales website does not show it on the schedule. (The AMC Empire on 42nd Street is also in the Top 3 grossers nationally.) It is also playing The Arclight in Hollywood. It is also playing the Universal Citywalk, Loews Cineplex's massive complex about 8 miles away. It is playing the AMC Century 14 in Century City. It is playing in Santa Monica at the Loews Cineplex on the Third Street Promenade. It is playing at the Regal in Marina del Rey.

In other words, the film is playing pretty much every Westside (read: Jewish populated) theater that Newmarket or any other studio would want their movie playing.

Moving in to Chicago: "Gibson obviously thinks there's a potential problem in Chicago, where "Passion" will be on only two screens. Otherwise, Chicagoans will have to go to the suburbs."

THE TRUTH Apparently, Friedman's ignorance about the city of Chicago got in his way utterly. There are only five mainstream first-run houses left in non-suburban Chicago: Burnham Plaza, River East, 600 N Michigan, Esquire, and Webster Place. The Passion will play at River East and Webster Place.

Here there is a 50 First Dates gap also… it's playing in Burnham Plaza in addition to The Passion's 2 downtown playdates.

Roger can't stop his unresearched lies. He writes: "In Florida, for example, Jacksonville and Tampa - more northern and central cities - will have "Passion" on four or more screens, while typically Jewish areas like Boca Raton will have it one screen if at all."

THE TRUTH: There are two major theaters in Boca Raton right now, The Shadowwood and The Muvico Palace. Not only are both theaters playing The Passion of The Christ, but Muvico already has tickets on sale for multiple screens.

It's very simple. I personally dislike the way Mel Gibson has turned his movie into a political referendum and left anyone who might have issues with the film politically sitting outside the door so his supporters can gleefully say, "But you haven't seen the movie, have you?" I don't think he is cynical enough to be doing this just to raise the film's profile so that it can have a huge opening with minimal advertising expense. I think he honestly feels persecuted. But still to no good end, in my opinion.

However, to have a member of the media lie outright without doing an hour's research before making a heinous and insidious accusation on a major, if biased, website, owned by a competing film studio is actionable. There is no question that there is malice in Friedman's work here. And there is no question that he is factually incorrect and intentionally misleading the public. At the very least there is malicious disregard for the truth.

Newmarket and Icon Productions have the legal standing to sue FoxNews.com and Roger Friedman for this story and an unassailable argument that financial damage was intended, even if actual financial damages to this moron-proof movie are unlikely . They probably will not, because it is not a good thing to do politically in this business. However, a retraction should be placed up immediately.

And Roger Friedman - and I don't say this blithely - should be fired. He has crossed a very serious line. This is not whoring for Miramax or others or attacking Drew Barrymore because she didn't let him interview her at a premiere. This is, in entertainment journalism, as serious a breech of professional ethics as any I can ever recall.

- David Poland
--------------------------------

Link to the story:
ROGER FRIEDMAN'S BLOOD LIBEL AGAINST THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST
--------------------------------

I personally was shocked myself to read the Foxnews article, more owing to an assumption that the facts stated therein were verified by the publisher and that the same was open to verification by anybody who wanted to.

These later attacks on the article by a fact-by-fact rebuttal leave me perplexed. Whats really happening here ?

I am going to stick to my original assessment. A 100 million in first five days for North America and a 400 million plus tally for the same territory.

[ 02-16-2004, 10:46 PM: Message edited by: Kamakshipalya Dhananjay ]
 

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Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 02-15-2004, 11:50 AM:
 
A review of the film from the UK's Daily Telegraph (a right-of-centre broadsheet):

quote:

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Who would want to see a film this violent?
(Filed: 11/02/2004)

John Hiscock watches The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson's £15 million movie at the centre of a firestorm of controversy.

Jewish groups have condemned it, evangelical organisations have embraced it and writer-director-producer-financier Mel Gibson is reaping the benefits of a deluge of advance publicity.

The Passion of the Christ has been at the centre of controversy for months, but only this week, after a series of screenings to carefully selected Christian audiences - and having spent the past few weeks editing and tinkering with it - has Gibson finally shown the finished version to journalists and critics.

The film has already come in for vociferous criticism for allegedly kindling anti-Semitism, but having just sat through its two hours six minutes of virtually unremitting bloody beatings and torture, I would not be surprised if anti-violence groups have their say as well.

For, worthy and serious as Gibson's treatment may be, his blood-drenched depiction of the final hours of Jesus's life is harsh and brutal, dwelling almost entirely on pain, suffering and torment.

Beatings, whippings, floggings and the Crucifixion, are shown in close-up with frequent slow motion shots to ensure that no detail escapes us. We see a cat-o-nine tails rip repeatedly into Jesus's flesh as His body is torn and battered to a bleeding pulp; He stumbles, falls and is beaten many times during His long, slow crawl towards His crucifixion; and the agony of the Crucifixion is graphically and excruciatingly portrayed.

The film, due to be released in America on Ash Wednesday and in Britain on March 26, is being marketed to evangelical Christians, although Gibson has emphasised it is not for young children.

However, many adults are likely to have problems with the vivid depictions of pain and violence. It is being released with an R rating but people are already asking whether it should warrant an NC-17, a rating so far applied only to films with explicit sexual content. Gibson claims to have cut some of the most brutal scenes but there is plenty of scope for more editing.

Jim Caviezel stars as Jesus and the Italian actress Monica Bellucci is Mary Magdalene in the £15 million film, which is in Latin and Aramaic with English subtitles, and which was entirely financed by Gibson, who is a member of a conservative Catholic religious group.

It begins in the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus is praying as His disciples sleep. He resists the temptations of a Gollum-like Satan but less than 10 minutes into the film He is dragged away to endure the first of many beatings at the hands of Jewish and Roman guards.

The Roman leader Pontius Pilate, reluctant to harm Jesus but equally anxious to avert a rebellion by the Jewish mob, agrees to Him being severely lashed. The ensuing flogging becomes a gruesome bloodbath but the crowd and the high priest demand more.

The second half of the film is devoted to Jesus's blood-soaked journey to His crucifixion. He stumbles and falls many times under the weight of His cross and is flogged almost senseless until the Romans order an onlooker to help share the burden.

The Crucifixion itself is 25 minutes of torment as drunken Roman soldiers struggle to hammer in the nails and Jesus's flayed body jerks and writhes in pain on the cross.

His death is accompanied by an earthquake which rocks Jerusalem, shaking and toppling walls in Pilate's home and in the building housing the high priest.

The resurrection is dealt with as the final scene in the film. The rock in front of the cave entrance where His body lies rolls back and a cleansed and healthy-looking Jesus walks away in slow motion, leaving His shroud on the rock where His body had lain.

Throughout the film, the violence and bloodletting is interspersed with flashbacks to Jesus as a working carpenter, with His mother, preaching to the disciples and at the Last Supper. But the respites are all too brief and after each interlude Gibson harshly pulls the viewers back to the horrors of the persecution.

Beneath the blood Caviezel makes an impressive, dignified Jesus while Monica Bellucci and the Romanian actress Maia Morgenstern as Mary, His mother, have little to do but look horrified at events unfolding before them.

While sticking mainly to the New Testament, Gibson has embellished his story cinematically by including scenes such as Roman soldiers joking and bickering among themselves and Pilate's wife Claudia making plain her sympathy for the women in Jesus's life. A wild-eyed Judas is chased and hounded by local children until, full of self-recrimination, he takes a rope from a dead camel and hangs himself from a tree above the camel's corpse.

It is difficult to know who would want to see a film this violent, but Gibson has been encouraging thousands of churchgoers to see it. Given that mainstream American audiences are generally more comfortable with violence than with sex, and that the anti-Semitic controversy has helped rather than hindered marketing efforts, The Passion is likely to boost Gibson's bank account by many millions of dollars.

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Link to story, though you have to subscribe (i.e. give the paper's website your name and e-mail address) to view the linked page.
 

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Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 02-16-2004, 09:34 AM:
 
Quoting the prison guard in A Clockwork Orange :

And let's have a little reverence, you bastards!
 

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Posted by Jacob Huber (Member # 1138) on 02-16-2004, 03:47 PM:
 
We are booked for 3 prints of this, and on Friday, 2/13, pre-sales for this put it as our 3rd highest seller, behind 50 1st Dates and Miracle (both of which did extremely well).

This thing is going to make a killing when it opens, as we have already sold out numerous showings and have set up even more special showings for church groups.
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 02-16-2004, 10:37 PM:
 
Here is a news analysis by WashingtonPost.Com calling the PASSION OF CHRIST as the most talked about movie event in America.

Quote :
----------------------------------------

'Passion' Is Already Generating a Faithful Following

By Caryle Murphy and William Booth
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, February 17, 2004; Page A01

A week before its release, before a single member of the general public has seen it, Mel Gibson's graphically violent film about the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus Christ has become the most talked-about movie event in America, in large part because of a marketing strategy that is targeting Christian audiences while trying to manage the controversy about anti-Semitism that swirls around the picture.

Paul Dergarabedian, the president of Exhibitor Relations, a company that tracks box office sales, told Variety that the pre-release buzz of "The Passion of the Christ" rivals that of the first "Star Wars" prequel, one of the top-grossing movies of all time. The film will be released next week on Ash Wednesday, on 2,000 screens. Hundreds of theaters, including a number in the Washington area, have already sold out showings for the opening week.

Gibson has said he wanted to make the "most realistic" Jesus movie ever made. The R-rated subtitled film, which contains scenes of blood-drenched violence and physical suffering, has generated intense interest among religious audiences, especially evangelical Christians, who have been identified by Gibson as his core audience -- and by some Jewish leaders who fear that the portrayal of Jesus's scourging and crucifixion in such excruciatingly realistic detail will spark anti-Jewish feelings. The film is being marketed by specialty firms directing their messages to evangelical churches and to religious leaders, who see the film as an opportunity to affirm the beliefs of the faithful and to bring the message of Christ to nonbelievers. Dozens of Internet sites directed at Christians have been touting the film; the marketing companies are offering a look at the movie's trailer, ways to purchase tickets online and supplemental study guides. An ad plugging the movie appeared on the hood of a race car at NASCAR's Daytona 500 on Sunday.

Outreach Inc., a purveyor of Christian products, is working with Gibson's company to market the film and has distributed thousands of sets of promotional materials, including DVDs of film highlights, to churches nationwide, encouraging them to attend the film as a congregation.

"People who see the film will become more curious about who Jesus is and what he accomplished. We have a lot of books and videos that focus on the person and work of Christ," said Rob Phillips of LifeWay Christian Resources, one of the companies with tie-ins to the film.

Denny Harris, director of ministry operations at McLean Bible Church, one of the largest Christian evangelical congregations in the Washington area, said he thinks that viewers "will be deeply moved and left with questions about" Christ's crucifixion. "What we desire to do is to help people understand what the implications of the death of Christ are . . . and to understand what they can do in response to that."

Harris's church purchased 10,250 tickets in advance -- and more than half have already been resold to the congregation.

Joseph P. Vitale, a young District lawyer who is Catholic, bought out the largest screen at the AMC movie complex at Mazza Gallerie in Northwest Washington for the first night's screening because he and his friends thought seeing the movie "would be a great way to start off Lent." Vitale then sent invitations to friends, acquaintances and Catholic youth groups at local universities, offering them the opportunity to buy tickets in advance at his cost. Within hours of sending the e-mailed invitations, Vitale said he received more than 350 affirmative responses, and within days his e-mail in-basket held requests for a total of 800 tickets.

"For many people," Vitale said, "it can be more than just a moviegoing experience. It will also be a personal experience."

According to people who have seen the movie, Gibson (who funded and directed it and co-wrote its screenplay) has chosen to focus on the role of the high priests at the Jewish temple in Jerusalem in indicting Christ and calling for his execution. The Jewish leader Caiaphas is insistent that Jesus die, while the Roman governor Pontius Pilate is portrayed as a sympathetic character who only reluctantly gives in to the mob's bloodlust.

"I'm not sure there has been a film that has ignited such an exchange of inflammatory condemnations before people even see it," said the Rev. Christopher Leighton, a Presbyterian minister and executive director of the Baltimore-based Institute for Christian Jewish Studies.

Leighton criticized the media for pitting Christian evangelicals' fervor for the film against Jewish fears. "In that situation," said Leighton, "there is a lot of heat and not much illumination."

There are many Christians, he added, who also are "enormously anxious about the Gospel story being presented in a way that foments or incites anti-Jewish attitudes."

In an interview with ABC News's "Primetime" that aired last night, Gibson said of the film's violence: "I wanted it to be shocking. And I also wanted it to be extreme. I wanted it to push the viewer over the edge. And it does that. I think it pushes one over the edge . . . so that they see the enormity, the enormity of that sacrifice; to see that someone could endure that and still come back with love and forgiveness, even through extreme pain and suffering and ridicule."

In comments before clergy and test audiences, Gibson has said that his movie is based closely upon the four New Testament Gospel accounts of the crucifixion, as well as the visions and mystical testimonies of two nuns, Mary Agreda of Spain (1602-1665) and Anne Catherine Emmerich of France (1774-1824).

But Hollywood executives and religious leaders with knowledge of the project also say that Mel Gibson himself cannot be separated from the film. He is an Oscar-winning director whose characters often endure bloody trials of faith, such as his own portrayal of the Scottish rebel in "Braveheart" who is publicly disemboweled while lying upon a crosslike rack.

Gibson, 48, is a traditionalist Catholic, an ultraconservative in terms of his faith. Traditionalists reject the reforms of the Roman Catholic Vatican II council of the late 1960s, which lifted prohibitions on eating meat on Fridays and in an effort to make Mass more accessible, ordered that it be said in the lay languages of congregations rather than in Latin.

Gibson has defended "Passion" as an accurate portrayal of Christ's final hours and has condemned those who accuse him of anti-Semitism, telling the Global Catholic Network, a radio and television broadcasting service, that his film "collectively blames humanity for the death of Jesus. . . . Now, there are no exemptions here. All right? I'm the first on the line for culpability. I did it. Christ died for all men for all times."

But he has also conceded that the controversy surrounding the film has generated the kind of free publicity that can make a blockbuster. He has called it "inadvertent," but one Hollywood executive at a major studio, who asked for anonymity, described it as "a brilliant marketing campaign."

"The publicity, the controversy and the interest -- it's a movie phenomenon that hasn't been seen before," said Robert Fyvolent of Newmarket Films, which is handling the distribution.

Surveys by the market research firm Nielsen NRG suggest that the film could open in the $15 million to $30 million range -- which, as Gibson and others have said, is remarkable for a picture with no-name actors speaking two dead languages (Aramaic and Latin) with minimal subtitles.

Gibson has mostly shown the film to restricted, often handpicked audiences, who must sign releases pledging not to divulge details of the movie -- an astute marketing move, perhaps, but one that has aroused considerable suspicion and anxiety among some Jewish groups.

David Friedman, Washington regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said, "The producers are not showing it to people who they think are not going to give laudatory comments."

An official at the New York-based Office for Film and Broadcasting, which reviews and classifies movies for U.S. Catholic bishops, said that it had not yet been allowed to see the film but was told it would be invited to a screening during the film's opening week.

Gibson, though, has shown the film to some Jewish leaders, to a gathering of Jesuit priests and to an unsuspecting audience of 250 self-professed film geeks attending movie-review maven Harry Knowles's film festival in Austin several months ago. Knowles, who runs a popular cinephile Web site called Ain't It Cool News, said his audience was anything but evangelical.

"It was a mainly agnostic, film-loving prime movie demographic. We had a phone repairman, an FBI agent and a paper shuffler from the IRS," Knowles said.

Gibson's film, Knowles said, "blew the audience away."

It is possible, Knowles said, "that if you are looking for anti-Semitism in the film, you might find it." But he also said he felt the film's message was "about a guy who takes more punishment than you've ever seen in your life, and how he doesn't cry out for revenge but prays for their forgiveness. We're not a Bible-thumping community. I'm as liberal as can be. And I think I understand the message better than they do -- the conservatives."

Sophie Hoffman, president of the Jewish Community Council of Greater Washington, who like Friedman has not seen the movie, said she is most worried about the film's influence in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, "where anti-Semitism has been rising at frightening and dramatic rates."

One of the most sensational moments in the version of the film that has been screened in previews is a line from the Gospel of Matthew, in which the mob calling for Jesus to be put upon the cross shouts out, "His blood be on us and on our children!" Often called the 'blood libel' quote, it has been interpreted in the past to call down rage and blame upon the Jews in the centuries-long tradition of Passion plays.

One of the movie's other publicists, Larry Ross, who has often represented the Rev. Billy Graham, said that Gibson was still fiddling with the final edit of the film. "You will have to wait until Mel releases his film to know what decisions he has made as a director," Ross said.

William Booth reported from Los Angeles.

------------------------------------------------
Link :
Mel Gibson's graphically violent film has become the most talked-about movie event in America
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 02-19-2004, 02:55 AM:
 
Just reported by VARIETY that PASSION OF CHRIST will release with 4000 prints against the planned 2500 prints and the number of theatres to touch 2800 against the initially planned 2000 theatres. Now, this is really good news. Also on the net are several other press articles indicating that the advance ticket sales in several circuits for PASSION OF CHRIST is the highest ever in recent times.

-------------------------------------------------------------
Quote :

'Passion' building among exhibitors
Churches given screenings in advance of bow'

By GABRIEL SNYDER

No one will have a problem finding a theater playing Mel GibsonMel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" next week.
Responding to increased demand from exhibitors, Icon and Newmarket said Wednesday that they now planned to distribute more than 4,000 prints of "Passion," up from the approximate 2,500 previously announced.

The increase reflects the expanding number of theaters that will play "Passion" and the number of theaters that will show the pic on multiple screens. Icon and Newmarket now say they plan to be in 2,800 theaters, up from an original 2,000.

"It's really picked up in the last couple of days," said Newmarket chief Bob Berney. "A lot of what we've been hearing (from theater chains) is that instead of two prints, we want four. They anticipate a much bigger opening, and they want to be able to handle it."

"Passion" now stands to be distribbed on the same scale as some of Hollywood's biggest titles.

By way of comparison, "Master & Commander" unspooled in November with 3,101 playdates. "The Last Samurai""The Last Samurai" opened with 2,908. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," which holds the record for opening at the most theaters, bowed at 3,703.

May add theaters

Berney said "Passion" may still add theaters and prints before the pic officially bows this coming week -- on Ash Wednesday. "I anticipate going up even slightly more because of increased demand, particularly after the great interview with Diane Sawyer."

Gibson appeared on a one-hour ABC News special Monday that attracted 17 million viewers, drawing better ratings than CBSCBS' "60 Minutes" interview with Michael JacksonMichael Jackson in December.

"Passion" is produced by Gibson's shingleshingle, Icon, which partnered with Newmarket to handle domestic distribdistrib. Pic was produced for $25 million.

Film is riding a wave of religious controversy and spiritual fervor. Gibson has cultivated a following among evangelical Protestants and conservative Catholics who have embraced "Passion" as truthful accounting of their faith.

"Passion" also has stirred up political debate as some Jewish leaders fear that the account of the crucifixion portrays Jews as culpable and that the film could spur an upsurge in anti-Semitism.

The combination has produced massive interest in a film that -- telling a religious tale with Aramaic and Latin dialogue and extremely gory violence -- once looked like it would be a commercial flopflop.

A rival distrib execexec praised the "Passion" marketing. "They've done a great job of drawing a line. You're either for it and you want to see it or you're against it and you want to see it. They've even advanced the idea that you're a hypocrite if you're against it and you haven't seen it."

Bruce DaveyBruce Davey, Icon's chair, said exhibs are responding based on continued strong advance sales of "Passion" tixtix, estimated to have already reached $8 million for the first few days of the pic's release. With around $2 million already booked in group sales, he said, "If no one walks up to a theater, we're going to do great, but I think we're going to do spectacularly."

Group sales key

Berney said that this coming Monday, two days before "Passion's" official bowbow, about 800 theaters will begin offering paid shows for churches that have bought out entire auditoriums. These group-sale shows alone could generate around $2 million at the wickets.

"We have never experienced this level of interest in group sales," said Regal Entertainment Group marketing senior VP Dick Westerling. Regal, nation's largest chain, will play "Passion" in about 450 of its 550 theaters. Most of its dates are also doing group-sale shows before this coming Wednesday.

At AMC, Rick King, corporate communications senior VP, concurs with Berney's assessment. "It's continuing to grow. The sales have just been very strong, particularly over the last seven or eight days."

Though those group-sale shows will be added into the Wednesday gross, Davey said they weren't intended to solely be moneymakers.

"They're all churches that are itching to see this film. What better word of mouth can you have from your core audience?" Davey said. "They all want to get out and see the movie first, then go spread the word."

Nationwide demand

Berney said increased exhibexhib demand was nationwide and not just in the Bible Belt. "It's pretty even across the board. It's a very typical wide studio release," he said, "as opposed to some stories I've seen that said it wasn't. We're not worried about people not getting in."

Several theaters around the country are planning midnight showings on Tuesday night, including the ArcLight in Hollywood.

A Cinemark theater in Plano, Texas, plans to show "Passion" on all of its 20 screens. After a midnight show, it plans to keep the pic playing 24 hours a day. Several other Cinemark locations, including theaters in Long Beach, Calif., Rochester, N.Y., Colorado Springs, Colo., and Valley View, Ohio, are planning to follow suit.

Berney would not hazard a guess at "Passion's" opening weekend take. "I don't want to pin down a number," Berney said. "It could really be through the roof. When you try to peg a specific number, it's really risky because if it's one dollar less, somehow it's a disappointment."

Distrib execs at other companies estimate an opening week take of $20 million to $30 million. Pic is aimed at older adults who sometimes wait to see pics after opening weekend, but rival execs marveled at how Icon and Newmarket had encouraged "Passion's" core audience of churchgoers to rush in next week.

'It's a cause'

"They've convinced them that they've got to see it and they've got to see it right away. It's not a movie, it's a cause," one said.

"Passion" has shunned standard movie marketing techniques, instead building a core audience by creating a network of churches that are seeking to use the film to attract new members.

Icon and Newmarket, however, have launched their broader advertising campaign. TV spots began running on cable the middle of last week. On Monday, network ads began airing. Time has also been bought on Hispanic nets.

Print campaign launches on Sunday with ads in the New York Times, L.A. Times and other majormajor metropolitan dailies.

"It's an aggressive campaign combined with a pretty much overwhelming grassroots and faith-based marketing campaign," Berney said. "We've tried to smartly combine the two."

Date in print: Thurs., Feb. 19, 2004, Los Angeles

-------------------------------------------------
Link :
'Passion' building among exhibitors
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 02-20-2004, 09:56 AM:
 
The debate over whether PASSION OF CHRIST is suitable for viewing by Kids and young people has begun and it is quite remarkable to note that, from reports coming in from the South and the Mid-West, there is quite a consensus among some people that they expect the violence in this film to be unlike the violence in most other.
 

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Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 02-20-2004, 06:36 PM:
 
At one time, I did enjoy Mel Gibson, but no more! No, I will not watch this film.

I am convinced that Mel Gibson is in fact an anti-Semite.

There was a recent news article in which Gibson stated that those non-believers...er...non-Roman Catholics... are all condemned to hell, regardless of how one conducts his/her life. He included his spouse among the condemned.

Associated Press...New York...Friday 20 Feb. 2004:

"Gibson's Dad Again Belittles Holocaust"

"Days before the release of Mel Gibson's film about the death of Jesus, which some critics say could fuel anti-Semitism, his father has repeated his belief that the Holocaust was mostly fiction."

"Steve Feuerstein, host of SPEAK YOUR PEACE!, said he interviewed Hutton Gibson for a segment of his show to be broadcast Monday by the small TALKLINE COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK."

"According to a transcript released by the network, Hutton said, "It's all--maybe not all fiction--but most of it is," when asked about his views on the Holocaust."

"He added, "They claimed that there were 6.2 million (Jews) in Poland before the war, and after the war there were 200,000, therefore he (Adolf Hitler) must have killed 6 million of them. They simply got up and left. They were all over the Bronx and Brooklyn and Sydney and Los Angeles."

"The interview comes at a sensitive time for Mel, whose PASSION OF THE CHRIST, opens Wednesday."

"Some Jewish leaders say the movie could fuel anti-Semitism for its portrayal of Jews' role in the Crucifixion, while conserative Christians have praised it as a moving depiction of Jesus' death."

"Mel has said repeatedly that he is not anti-Semitic and that the project was a deeply personal expression of his own faith."

"Hutton could not be reached for comment. Alan Nierob, a spokesman for Mel, declined to comment on the interview."

"Hutton follows a tiny wing of traditionalist Catholicism that views the modernizing refourms of the Second Vatican Council as a conspiracy between Jews and Masons to take over the church."

"Asked in media interviews whether he shares his father's views, Mel has said that he loves his father and will not speak against him."

Throughout my life, I have personally been subject to acts of anti-Semitism perped by cults...such as "Jews For Jesus" and the like. They try to demonstrate that non-believers are all condemned to hell, and use the "fact" that their "rabbi" was formally a well regarded "rabbi" of an Ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect who has since converted to Christianity.

Gibson has tried a similar tact, by casting the Romanian Jewish actress, Maia Morgenstern, in the role of Mary. Gibson then attempts to use this casting ploy as a means of disproving his anti-Semitism and defending his "film". SHAME ON YOU, MEL!!!

Please refer to "PLAYING JESUS AN ACT OF FAITH--AND PAIN" by David Germain Associated Press, Friday Feb. 20, 2004.

Sorry Moderators about not applying a link to this article, maybe one of you can correctly do this?
 

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Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 02-20-2004, 11:04 PM:
 
Well, there are plenty on the Christian right who say anyone who doesn't believe as they do won't go to heaven. Not unlike the Islamic fundamentalists. To me it defies credulity to think that God is going to condemn billions of people for following the religion of their forebears or for not believing in some religion they might well have never even heard of. But that's what they believe. I'm not quite sure that makes them anti-semitic however.

As for Mel's father, it's his father not him. Watching the growing coverage about the movie I can't say I've seen Mel say or do anything that would lead me to the conclusion you have.
 

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Posted by Greg Anderson (Member # 235) on 02-21-2004, 12:12 AM:
 
If you really want to know what's in Mel Gibson's head, how he feels about his father, etc., then the interview earlier this week with Diane Sawyer might be useful. On TV, he specifically said that he doesn't believe that everyone outside his own ideology will be condemned by God. He also addressed the issue of reporters trying to drive a wedge between Mel Gibson and his father. Anyhow, the interview seemed to bring up the same issues in the David Germain article but Mel Gibson doesn't appear to share his father's views. I don't think there was any trickery in casting a Jewish actress in the movie either. I mean, she's playing the part of a Jewish woman!
 

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Posted by Aldo Baez (Member # 790) on 02-21-2004, 12:28 AM:
 
L.A. Times reported this morning that the opening has been upped to 2800 screens.
 

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Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 02-21-2004, 12:39 AM:
 
Remember, the press likes to confuse the terminology of screens and print counts. Screens are locations so 2800 is how many actual theatres are playing the film. Print count will be in the range of 4000 prints
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 02-21-2004, 01:25 AM:
 
well, the news about revision strategy for this film was first put by Variety.Com at 10.45 am, VARIETY.Com, Feb.19.

They quoted named sources within Newmarket in that article.

The revision is as under :

Prints :
Previous - 2500
Revised - 4000

Theatres :
Previous - 2000
Revised - 2800.

Unforeseen demand for tickets.

Also on record by Newmarket execs is that even the revised figures are most likely subject to further upward revision.

I guess, they will increase the number of theatres to 3100 and the number of prints to 4700 or so. In a day or two. But this whole episode makes me wonder whether in accomodating the request of Newmarket films, accomodating theatres knock off rival commitments. Is it so ?

Whether Newmarket or any other distributor, none could have, to start with, engaged these many theatres - I am sure most exhibitors themselves might have, three weeks ago, dismissed this current reach for the film as pure fantasy.

One major news site, Foxnews.Com called Newmarket as a Scrappy distributor. I wonder why they did so and what fault they could have possibly seen in Newmarket. I have been noting Newmarket since they pickep up the distribution of this film and there is absolutely nothing that they have said or done that should warrant such attacks. In fact, in every public statement released by Newmarket that I have seen, a reasoned and restrained response by them is everywhere.

BTW, I saw the spoof trailer of this film (mixing this film with music and style in Kill Bill) hosted by a NYU student. Quite impressive it is. (Link not put in because of reports of request by Newmarket or Gibson's representatives to NYU to remove the same).
 

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Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 02-21-2004, 01:42 AM:
 
Steve: Thanks for a breath of fresh air in all this bull shit!

Also, keep in mind that most of the numbers are misquoted cuz of stupidity or not understanding the basis for the reports.

The numbers from Variety for example reflect "engagements"... which is the number of screens (NOT prints) times the number of times shown.

Bottom Line...other than from a financial point, WTF cares! I sure don't!

>>> Phil
 

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Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 02-21-2004, 01:49 AM:
 
I kinda hope it makes a ton of money. Not because I care much about the religious agenda but because all the major distributors turned it down. Whether they were worried about controversy or they thought it was a turkey doesn't matter. Anytime conventional thinking is defied and someone makes a bundle in the process, good for them.
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 02-21-2004, 01:58 AM:
 
Where is the confusion here ?

Quote from Variety article :
----------------------------------------
Responding to increased demand from exhibitors, Icon and Newmarket said Wednesday that they now planned to distribute more than 4,000 prints of "Passion," up from the approximate 2,500 previously announced.

The increase reflects the expanding number of theaters that will play "Passion" and the number of theaters that will show the pic on multiple screens. Icon and Newmarket now say they plan to be in 2,800 theaters, up from an original 2,000.
-----------------------------------------

Link : Feb 19 - 'Passion' building among exhibitors - Correction made to the article on Feb.20
 

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Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 02-21-2004, 01:15 PM:
 
I am surprised you didn't ask if somebody has Jesus' phone number!
 

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Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 02-21-2004, 11:05 PM:
 
Middle initial "H" right?
 

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Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 02-21-2004, 11:16 PM:
 
O.K.

This film will make the Big Boy film companies wake up. I would guess that the film has probably surpassed the $50 million mark in pre-sales alone (world-wide). That only accounts for 10 percent of the people who actually want to see the film. I have already spoke to people who have seen it, and yes it is pretty disturbing. However, I believe that this film will break a whole helluva lotta records for a Feburary release. We will be hearing about this one for a while.

Mel Gibson = Marketing genius
All this publicity = lots of Money
 

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Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 02-21-2004, 11:27 PM:
 
A total of thirteen multiplex theatres in Hawaii will play "THE PASSION OF CHRIST" and one of them will be Pacific's Ward 16 which is considered by many including myself as the state's finest movie theatre. It will play the film in two of their largest auditoriums and eight thousand seats have already been pre sold to church groups. Signature Theatres will also play it on multiple screens at their two premier theatres the Dole Cannery and the Pearl Highlands. I understand Pacific's Kahala and the Koko Marina at two of Honolulu's affluent areas will also be playing the film so report of the film's release targeted only in low income areas is definitely not true.

-Claude
 

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Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 02-22-2004, 12:27 AM:
 
Everyone is playing Passion of Christ -- They even delivered a print to our sub-run theater yesterday when they picked up our Technicolors. We told the driver there must be a mistake. He said no. We weren't booked for it, but the cans indicate our address is supposed to play it on the 25th

I'll sit back and let management sort it out.

=TMP=
 

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Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 02-22-2004, 02:17 AM:
 
The big studios must be kicking themselves for passing on this. The trailer picked up a lot of buzz even before Newmarket picked this up. It should not have been such a surprise.

I never understood the risk factor studios were trying to consider. You heard so much talk of a backlash for those who release Last Temptation of Christ. The release of that movie had no effect on future revenues for that studio. I don't think many people in the Jewish community who may be offended by Passion will bother boycotting future Newmarket movies. People just don't make a connection with the studio when making a choice to watch a movie.
 

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Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 02-22-2004, 02:39 AM:
 
H?
 

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Posted by Carl Martin (Member # 1146) on 02-22-2004, 02:52 AM:
 
the jig is up michael. i always suspected you weren't a real american.

carl
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 02-22-2004, 07:49 AM:
 
The reviews are coming in from everywhere. Those who have reviewed have expressed many things, most unanimously, that this is a great film. Many even go to the extent of calling it the greatest movie they have ever seen.

The violence and gore, many say, is too much - yet, many also claim the other parts in this film lend the strength to sustain the violence and gore at some places.

I have only seen the trailer of this film. The scene in which a huge nail is pierced into Jesus' palm drew an instantaneous chill and fright within me, yet, when I had finished seeing the trailer, I had no doubt in my mind that this would be most powerful film I would see in many years or, I am not that old anyway, maybe, the most powerful film I have ever seen.

Curiously, it remains to question - what were the people within the studios who were shown this film and who generously and unreservedly rejected this film really thinking about this film anyway ?
 

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Posted by Jonathan M. Crist (Member # 413) on 02-22-2004, 09:50 AM:
 
In my area many theatres are scheduling special group and advance shows on Monday (02/23) and Tues (02/24). However since the picture doesn't officially open until Wed (02/25) these theatres are being required to report those Mon and Tues special show grosses as part of their opening day figures.

When dealing with reported grosses for any picture it is always wise to remember that the movie theatre business invented the whole genre of "creative accounting".
 

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 02-22-2004, 12:07 PM:
 
I'm amazed how many individuals think that the "Jesus fan base" (to coin a phrase) is not as large as Spider Man's fan base or the Star Wars fan base, and therefor will not grace this film with repeat business. Example quote from this thread:

quote:

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I just can't imagine the kind of loyal, fan support you get from, let's say, Star Wars or Spider-man fans

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To those people I ask... "Are you crazy???" I think a lot of people will go see it. Then they'll convince their friends to go see it, and they'll go with them. Or they'll want to see it before bringing their children. Some will come back with the kids, some won't, but I think a lot WILL.

This movie will do very well. It will make 100 million in a week if not faster, and it will have a nice long run. Those are my predictions, and I'm prepared to be publicly humiliated here in this forum if I'm wrong.

Mark
 

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Posted by David Favel (Member # 1125) on 02-22-2004, 01:07 PM:
 
Like the guys at Decca who woudn't sign the Beatles coz "guitar music is on the way out"
 

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Posted by Greg Anderson (Member # 235) on 02-22-2004, 02:10 PM:
 
Star Wars and Spider-man fans often sound like they're having a contest to see their favorite movie more times than their friends did. Plus, those are the kinds of people who have a habit of going to the movies a lot. If The Passion of the Christ attracts people who don't see movies that often, I just can't imagine those people suddenly acting like Star Wars fan and seeing this movie as many times as they can (and then bragging about it at church). Why would you want to see it again? Because you thought that the special effects were cool? On the other hand, if this movie is so powerful that it touches believers deeply, it disturbs people and the images stay with them for a long time, then why do they need to rush back and watch the movie again?

I'm just saying that, as "blockbusters" go, this is a whole different kind of movie. It isn't going to follow the patterns we've come to expect based on the Hollywood hype mechanisms we all know. Ten days from now, we're all going to be surprised by what will have happened.
 

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Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 02-22-2004, 03:36 PM:
 
Actually Greg, I think you will see some of the bragging thing going on with Passion too. I remember when the silly Omega Code came out, christian channels on TV were asking viewers to go watch it to make a statement to Hollywood that Christian movies have a huge fan base. If a silly movie like that could earn half decent money at the box office, the idea that churches would be booking theaters for a superior movie like Passion of Christ is not inconceivable. Some churches are probably doing this to make sure this movie gets high grosses in the first week.

That's why I couldn't figure out why none of the majors were picking this movie up even indirectly(through their indie studios at least). I know there are some of us who are agnostics and athiests who were looking forward to this movie just for the same reason we want to watch a fictional epic like LOTR series.
 

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Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 02-22-2004, 08:30 PM:
 
I am in no way a religous person - however I loved the closing question that Andy Rooney posed to Mel Gibson on 60 Minutes tonight:

"So, Mel, my question for you is: Just how many millions of dollars will you make off the Crucifiction?"

 

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Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 02-22-2004, 09:11 PM:
 
Eh...a far better question would be to ask Mel about a sequel.
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 02-22-2004, 10:18 PM:
 
Sequel? Easy...."The Resurrection of the Christ"

Or, "The Ascension of the Christ"

And then, the first ever sequel/prequel: "The Second Coming of the Christ"
 

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Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 02-22-2004, 10:18 PM:
 
What did Mel say to that?
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 02-22-2004, 10:18 PM:
 
I haven't seen the 60 Min. episode yet, but if it was "Andy Rooney," I'm sure it was just a question to the camera, and not to Mel in person.
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 02-22-2004, 11:52 PM:
 
The interest for this film in other parts of the world is picking up and in India alone, every major newspaper is writing about President Bushs' desire to watch this film. So too in other parts of Asia and every major Muslim country - is it unusual at all for the President to ask for a special screening ?

More reviews are pouring in and like Washington Post commented, this film will become the movie event of America. The numbers for the Wednesday (including the previews), sure, will go over the roof. Waiting for the Wedenesday numbers.
 

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Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 02-23-2004, 12:34 AM:
 

quote:

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Like the guys at Decca who woudn't sign the Beatles coz "guitar music is on the way out"

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Speaking of The Beatles and Jesus, John Lennon said "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. ... We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first-rock 'n' roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me."

Some say that was in reference to the number of Beatles records selling more copies than the number of people attending church. (I believe the Archbishiop of Boston said he was right)

So I suppose we shall see if Star Wars or Spiderman or Leonardo Di Caprio is more popular than Jesus.

=TMP=
 

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Posted by Mark Hajducki (Member # 1732) on 02-23-2004, 06:23 AM:
 
In the UK it has been awarded an 18 certificate by the BBFC [only persons 18 or over are meant to see this in the cinema]. This will kill church group showings unless local councils decide to reclassify the film.
 

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Posted by Jeremy Fuentes (Member # 2135) on 02-23-2004, 09:42 AM:
 
I think a good response from Mel to Andy Rooney would be "How much of your own money would you spend on something that you are passionate about?"
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 02-23-2004, 01:30 PM:
 

quote:

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is it unusual at all for the President to ask for a special screening ?

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quote:

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it would be much easier/safer to set up a special screening for the prez than to try to out him into a regular scheduled show.

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Many studios will set up a special screening for critics, actors, directors and other noted figures at screening rooms.
Because it is easier to fit into these peoples busy schedules.
I handle many private shows for talent here in NYC. I'm just finishing my third screening of the "Passion.." for New York Television and print media critics today. And there is about 4-5 News crews sitting outside of the building.
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 02-24-2004, 05:46 AM:
 
Ok. The reviews are pouring in. As expected, whether they are positive or negative, they seem to have much admiration for the film.

Wednesday's numbers will shatter several things. Waiting to count on all of it.
 

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Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 02-24-2004, 01:05 PM:
 
Do we know the terms on this film? Is it like any other? It sounds like Mel is paying for P&A as well as having financed production. One article says that Newmarket is getting 10% for handling the bookings.
 

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Posted by Jonathan M. Crist (Member # 413) on 02-24-2004, 01:15 PM:
 
In my area of Central Pennsylvania it is a minimum 4 week deal with the standard 70/60/50/40 percentages. The kicker is that all of the Mon (02/23) and Tues (2/24) or other such advance special shows held before Wed 02/25 are to be added in and reported as part of the opening day gross (therefore payment at 70%) but what in effect you really get is a nine-day first week.
 

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Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 02-25-2004, 12:28 AM:
 
Or an 11 day week? What I mean is when a film opens on a Wednesday do the weeks become Wednesday to Tuesday for the length of the run? I would think the first "week" would be Wednesday through Thursday of the following week and then the rest of the weeks Friday to Thursday, to make things simple and more comparable to other films. So a Wednesday start would be a 9 day first week and this special situation maybe 11?

Or not?

Your 70/60/50/40, is that against 90/10 of gross minus negotiated nut, whichever is greater?
 

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Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 02-25-2004, 12:59 AM:
 
No ... all film rental is paid based on 7-day periods ... If a picture opens on Wednesday, then each new week starts on Wednesday.
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 02-25-2004, 05:05 AM:
 
The number of theatres playing this film has been further upped to 3006 for the Feb.25. The Feb.22 revision came to 2800 theatres from initially announced 2000.

So reports Boxofficemojo.com and New York Post.

Quote from New York Post :
"The Passion" debuts in more than two dozen city theaters and 3,006 nationwide today, Ash Wednesday, after two days of preview screenings for church groups - and months of controversy over its extreme violence and questions about whether it could feed anti-Semitism

Link : "The Passion" debuts in 3,006 nationwide today, Ash Wednesday,
 

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Posted by Jonathan M. Crist (Member # 413) on 02-25-2004, 12:18 PM:
 
Steve - To answer your questions in the order asked:

1) The box-office is to be reported as a seven day week (Wed thru the following Tues) which is the same as any movie which starts on mid week schedule. The only difference with POTC is that the opening Wed figure is to include all advance screening extra showings.

2) I did not look closely but I don't believe that Newmarket had a 90/10 clause. If any deal includes a 90/10, then it is always the higher of the percentage for the given week or the 90/10 calculation for that week.

3) When there is a 90/10, the "overhead figure" (which is the amount deducted before the 90/10 calculation is made) is anything but negotiated. Dictated by the distributors would be a better description. Each distributor sets its own figures for a particular venue and/or auditorium in that venue. For newer builds it tends to be so much a seat (usually a range of $15 to 18). But in my experience the overhead for any particular venue often seems to be picked out of thin air and bears little or no relation to actual operating costs.

What makes things even more unfair is that some studios do not uniformly apply the use of 90/10's. Studios may put 90/10's in for some areas or theatres while not including it (for the same picture) in other areas or competing theatres.
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 02-26-2004, 01:54 AM:
 
The opening day estimates are just in. Daily Variety quotes Newmarket's Bob Berney as saying that with only 857 theatres reporting up until the matinee, the grosses were 7 million. Taking the same as the basis, the report quotes his estimate of an opening bow at 20 million.

I dont quite agree. Figures for Wedenesday alone will clock around 25 million. Add another 10 million in advance ticket sales and 3 million in Church group sales (I wonder if both these are accurate - these could also be revised) : there is a cumulative of 38 million.

So, will the next four days earn in another 62 million ? It is anybodys' answer. It will perfectly breach the 100 million mark by Sunday night.

Link to Variety article :
Devout auds drive stunning $20 million bow

--------------------------------------------------
Reproduced from the article :

Posted: Wed., Feb. 25, 2004, 6:30pm PT

'Passion' ka-ching
Devout auds drive stunning $20 million bow

By GABRIEL SNYDER

This article was updated at 7:35 p.m.
And on the first day, "The Passion of the Christ" became a blockbuster.

After days of dominating national headlines and cable news nets, auds flocked to see Mel Gibson's depiction of the crucifixion on Ash Wednesday, ringing up huge numbers at the box office.

Bob Berney, prexy of Newmarket Films, which is distributing "Passion" for Gibson's Icon Prods., estimated that the film would post an opening day gross of around $20 million.

Mid-day Wednesday, he said, "We're well over $7 million on the matinees alone and that's just 857 theaters reporting."

"Passion" bowed at 3,006 locations, with the pic playing on more than 4,600 screens.

"It's obviously happening -- bigtime," said Icon chairman Bruce Davey. "In some ways it's not surprising. All the controversy surrounding the film has only piqued interest."

Neither exec would make a projection of how much "Passion" would pick up through its first five days of release, but consensus estimates across the industry run north of $50 million, with some reaching past $70 million.

"Passion" looks to be well within striking distance of the record for the best opening day for a pic released outside the May-August summer span and November-December holiday season. Current title is held by "Hannibal," which rang up $19.8 million when it bowed on Feb. 9, 2001, a Friday.

Crossing that benchmark would rank "Passion" among Hollywood's biggest Wednesday openers.

The far-and-away Wednesday box office leader is "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," which posted $34.1 million for its opening day this past December.

Second on that list is "Stars Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace," which posted $28.5 million on its opening Wednesday in 1999.

More recently, "The Matrix Revolutions," the third installment in the trilogy, bowed mid-week last November with $24.3 million.

Church groups had been snapping up blocks of "Passion" advance tickets for weeks. Exhibs held shows for groups willing to buy out entire auditoriums Monday and Tuesday nights.

A tally of the gross from those shows is not complete, but Berney estimated they repped $3 million worth of biz. The final number will be rolled into the report for Wednesday, the pic's official release date. Other advance ticket sales for the first few days of release stand at $10 million.

Exhibs reported "Passion" was doing plenty of walk-up biz as well.

Reps for Regal and AMC, the nation's first and second largest exhib chains, said matinees had been selling out across the country -- unusual for pics that unspool on a weekday.

"We've had a number of sellouts with our matinees throughout the country," said Russ Nunley, Regal marketing and communications director.

AMC senior veep Rick King said, "Matinee business was very solid and signs point to a busy night at the theater tonight. It's definitely going to be a big opening week."

He added aud interest extended beyond the Bible Belt. "We're seeing fairly strong sales in the South and Midwest, but we've also had heavy business at our Times Square location."

Berney said that theater, AMC Empire 25, where "Passion" is playing on three screens, had reported $39,000 tickets sold for matinees Wednesday and group sale shows Monday and Tuesday.

"From the small towns to Manhattan, it's a broad response," Berney said.

"Passion" is benefiting from curiosity seekers in its first week of release, but exhibs see signs it could continue to play well, as church group interest will likely remain strong through Easter, April 11.

Both AMC and Regal say their group sales departments are still busy selling blocks for religious groups for next week and beyond.

Newmarket set so-called firm terms on its box office split with exhibitors in advance of theaters' rolling out "Passion." But exhibition insiders say it's unlikely the specialty distributor will actually see anything like the split it had arranged on paper.

That's because smaller distribs lack true enforcement clout when theater owners go delinquent on film rentals. Industryites still talk about how IFC Films, where Berney was the senior VP who engineered the huge success of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," was eventually forced to accept partial payments from some exhibs on that surprise hit.

About half the major studios negotiate firm terms in advance of a pic's release. The rest wait until the end of any theatrical run to discuss a B.O. split with exhibs. Studios with firm-term agreements keep exhibs honest by threatening to withhold future film releases from circuits that go delinquent -- something few theaters owners ever dare to do with major distribs as a result.

But for specialty distribs like Newmarket or IFC, so few of their art films ever cross over into commercial venues that a threat to withhold future movies would ring hollow.

Whatever its prospects of collecting on the terms, Newmarket has apparently struck firm-term pacts with various exhibs calling for a 70% share for the distrib in the first week of the "Passion" run, 60% the second week and smaller percentages in subsequent weeks.

The movie's opening dominated Wednesday's cable news airwaves, earning as much attention as the real war being waged on the Biblical turf of Iraq. In the scramble, even the 2004 presidential race was shoved aside.

Cable news net anchors hustled to pump up the passion, sending bookers on the hunt for Hollywood insiders, Christian clergy, Jewish leaders, media pundits and moviegoers. There were viewer polls and viewer call-ins. There were also clips from the movie -- and not the least violent ones either -- played again and again by Fox News, CNN and MSNBC.

Running out of angles, some cable news hosts resorted to reporting on the media attention itself.

CNN's Anderson Cooper mused aloud on his eponymous show -- "Why does Hollywood always portray Jesus as a good-looking white guy?"

(Carl DiOrio and Anthony D'Alessandro in Los Angeles and Pamela McClintock in New York contributed to this report.)

---------------------------------------------------
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 02-26-2004, 02:28 AM:
 
Interesting part in that article about chains not honoring terms and smaller film companies having to accept partial payments, which supposedly happened on "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."

That really burns my rope. Any chain that doesn't honor its agreed upon terms deserves to go right back into bankruptcy.

Can you imagine the firestorm of negative publicity that would happen if something similar happened on this movie? It would be the biggest bomb in the theatre biz since the popcorn-fat scare a few years ago.
 

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Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 02-26-2004, 05:06 AM:
 
Reports this morning are between 15 and 20 million, I think 38 million for Wednesday is somewhat reaching.

Maybe if you count all the popcorn Ian sold you'd get 38 mln.
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 02-26-2004, 06:26 AM:
 
38 Million not for Wednesday alone. A 25 for Wednesday and 10 for Advance sales and 3 for Church group bookings.

Even according to Newmarket films, the grosses till Wednesday would be (20+10+3) = 33 Million. Unless, it is forbidden to include previews and advance shows as part of opening weekend.
 

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Posted by Kevin Wale (Member # 1851) on 02-26-2004, 07:33 AM:
 
So far it's over 20 million with many numbers still not in or tabulated. Projections assume it will top ROTK's Wednsday all time record. Pretty good for an independant film(strike one against it for such numbers) and for a biblical film (strike two and three against it. lol)

Mel has said other biblical stories could use the celluloid treatment so with this one already looking like it will be a total blockbuster, he will have the money to do it. Which thrills me and probably makes some cringe.
 

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Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 02-26-2004, 12:22 PM:
 
Rentrack reported $22.5M

Location Average $10,408

Our Take $5,486 which ain't bad for a 260-seat house and 4-showings. Percap yesterday was $1.95 which is 20-cents higher than normal for us.

Oh by the way, we made a couple of thousand dollars on our other 9-titles yesterday. Heck of a way to make a living.
 

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Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 02-26-2004, 09:28 PM:
 
Now you can afford the giant backlit fiberglass Ian-head for your marquee, as depicted, and watch your grosses really take off.
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 02-26-2004, 11:01 PM:
 
"and watch your grosses really take off."
________________________________________________________________

And so will half the town when they see that face light up !

Mark
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 02-27-2004, 02:40 AM:
 
The figures are pouring in and finally, many are reconciling to the possibility of this film raking in a 100 million dollars in first five days.

New York Times is one such publication that makes this guess based on what some industry executives have predicted since the opening day performance.

Quote :
-----------------------------------------------------
...................Some producers and studio executives, looking at the numbers, said the film would probably take in $75 million by the close of the weekend and, if attendance continued to hold up, could take in as much as $100 million in the first five days.
-----------------------------------------------------

Link :
A Box-Office Bonanza
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 02-27-2004, 10:53 PM:
 
On Thursday, Boxofficemojo.com reports that this film took in nearly 15 million.

So, the cumulative Box office for two days works to 41.34 Million. Variety reports that such a drop is only expected and that even LOTR-ROTK dipped by 47% on its second day. The expectations are that the film will pick up full steam for the weekend.

So, 60 more million to be made from three days ! I will take my guess like this :
Friday - 18.25 Mn
Saturday - 27.30 Mn
Sunday - 22.10 Mn
Total - 67.65 Mn
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 02-29-2004, 07:50 AM:
 
Splendid !

Only three days and 64.6 Million ! Also, an increase in the number of theatres since Friday. From 3006 to 3043 theatres.

Link to Boxofficemojo.com article
'Passion' Plays On: $64.6M in Three Days
 

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Posted by Wolff King Morrow (Member # 2226) on 02-29-2004, 08:00 AM:
 
Edit:

My apologies for editing my posts. I was informed by my employers that I am not allowed to discuss anything pertaining to operation, proceedures, profits, or wages of the company I work for on this or any other public media. Please note I was NOT aware of such a policy, so I apologize for the disruption of the thread.

Thanks for your understanding on this. -Wolff

[ 03-02-2004, 09:55 PM: Message edited by: Wolff King Morrow ]
 

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Posted by Joshua Tefay (Member # 1722) on 02-29-2004, 08:28 AM:
 
I wouldn't blame the labs for these 'lines' you are seeing. These are neg splices from the editing phase.
 

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Posted by Wolff King Morrow (Member # 2226) on 02-29-2004, 09:06 AM:
 
Edit:

My apologies for editing my posts. I was informed by my employers that I am not allowed to discuss anything pertaining to operation, proceedures, profits, or wages of the company I work for on this or any other public media. Please note I was NOT aware of such a policy, so I apologize for the disruption of the thread.

Thanks for your understanding on this. -Wolff

[ 03-02-2004, 09:56 PM: Message edited by: Wolff King Morrow ]
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 02-29-2004, 12:32 PM:
 
Wow ! A 117.50 Million so far - in just five days. The Friday-Sunday bow of 76.20 Million beat that of LOTR-ROTK's 72.70 Million.

Thank God! This movie performed!

Link to Reuters article :
Jesus Christ a Superstar at Box Office
 

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Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 02-29-2004, 01:01 PM:
 
Yes, $117.5M for opening week is quite impressive. Now watch as it plummets like the proverbial stone.

I note that on some shows we have sold out to church groups. I notice that when we are letting them in, there is almost nobody else coming up to the box office trying to get a ticket. We aren't turning people away. On shows that we haven't sold any group tickets for, the foot traffic to the box office is pretty light. I'm guessing that this film will drop off 80% in the left leaning, democrat voting, gay marrying, and liberal areas. I imagine that in the right leaning, republican voting, cousin marrying, conservative areas, the film will do some repeat business.
 

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Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 02-29-2004, 01:11 PM:
 

quote:

---

"The Passion of the Christ," Director Mel Gibson's controversial labor of love about the last 12 hours of Christ's life, nailed the No. 1 spot at the box office with weekend ticket sales of $76.2 million, officials said on Sunday.

---

I love how they say it nailed the #1 spot.

I assume these figures are still just estimates, since its Sunday. There's still room for that $4M margin of error (especially since this movie is hyped as it is) to have ROTK retain the crown. (no pun intended in either case)

quote:

---

Since opening Wednesday, and including sales from advance screenings the prior two days, the film has grossed $117.5 million, the second-best tally ever for a Wednesday release, behind only last year's "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" with $124.1 million.

---

Uhh... excuse me? But if you're counting 5-day grosses, you don't add two more days. More hype. So technically, it most likely is a lot further than second from ROTK's 5-day total.

I'm sure once all the beans are counted and people get their calendars straight, all this Jumping Josephs over Jesus will die down.

=TMP=
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 02-29-2004, 11:56 PM:
 
Thomas, if I didn't know better, I'd think the film's overwhelming box office success is a thorn in your, uh, side. All the hype aside, these are pretty impressive numbers, hype and +/- a few million $$ notwithstanding.
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 03-01-2004, 05:02 AM:
 
Well, I dont believe the movie will drop like that. In fact, I do sustain the other part of my (read 'our') prediction - that this film will go on to fetch 400 million or more from theatres in North America. A 100 million in a mere five days is simply outstanding for a film like this. The hype or whatever else, may wither now or later, but I believe the audience will come in huge numbers in the weeks ahead to see this film.

As to the performance of this film in pockets that some qualify as left or right, I expect this movie will do well at these places too without adhering to distinctions like whether the territory is regarded as left or right, liberal or conservative.

Why, is not New York city the number one performer for this film ? Is Texas ahead of California in collections for this film ?
 

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Posted by Wolff King Morrow (Member # 2226) on 03-01-2004, 10:42 AM:
 
Edit:

My apologies for editing my posts. I was informed by my employers that I am not allowed to discuss anything pertaining to operation, proceedures, profits, or wages of the company I work for on this or any other public media. Please note I was NOT aware of such a policy, so I apologize for the disruption of the thread.

Thanks for your understanding on this. -Wolff

[ 03-02-2004, 09:56 PM: Message edited by: Wolff King Morrow ]
 

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Posted by Michael Gonzalez (Member # 593) on 03-01-2004, 11:52 AM:
 
Though I am sure that business is going to drop nation wide. Here where I am at, I am expecting close to the same business as this past weekend. I would love to get a second print so that we don't have to interlock as much as last weekend. I also seem to have been wrong on one aspect as we are already getting a number of repeat viewings. I think that there will only be a 35 - 40% drop in attendance nation wide next weekend.
 

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Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 03-01-2004, 03:16 PM:
 
Kamakshipalya Dhananjay,

quote:

---

Why, is not New York City the number one performer for this film? Is Texas ahead of California in collections for this film?

---

quote:

---

It's been directly marketed towards Fundamentalist Christians and super conservative Catholics.

---

quote:

---

it is a film that you would probably only want to see once. I think it will do well if released on DVD...

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quote:

---

$200M is a huge maybe.

---

Hmm. Well, this week we have Hidalgo, Starsky & Hutch, and The Reckoning. I think Lord Of The Rings will probably take more Passion business than any of those three. And I predict Passion will pass 200 Million this weekend.

We'll see!
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 03-03-2004, 02:36 AM:
 
Passion only needs 55 million more to breach the 200 million mark. On Tuesday night, it stood at a staggering 144.7 Million.

I predict by the Sunday night, Passion will clearly breach the 200 million mark, notwithstanding the re-entry of LOTR-ROTK.

[ 03-03-2004, 09:05 AM: Message edited by: Kamakshipalya Dhananjay ]
 

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Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 03-03-2004, 04:29 PM:
 
_________________________________________________________________
quote:

It's been directly marketed towards Fundamentalist Christians and super conservative Catholics.

I'm not even sure what that means.
_________________________________________________________________

If you want to PM me I'll explain it to you Mark.
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 03-03-2004, 09:19 PM:
 
Mark: That's why I said MAYBE. (You can get out of a lot of wrong predictions by inserting a 'maybe.')
 

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 03-03-2004, 11:01 PM:
 
Hehe

I know, Mike, I do that all the time!

quote:

---

If you want to PM me I'll explain it to you Mark.

---

No reason for you to explain it Robert. You didn't say it. And no reason to take it to PM. I'm just not sure what Ian meant by saying it was directly marketed to "super conservative catholics." So it wasn't marketed to just plain conservative catholics? Only to super conservative ones? What does that mean? And does he think that moderate catholics and liberal catholics, and maybe even super liberal catholics weren't targeted either? I would just like a clarification on that and since it was said in this thread, I'd like the clarification to be in this thread too so that anyone who comes along later to read the thread will also have a chance to read the clarification. That's all.

Thanks!
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 03-05-2004, 08:45 AM:
 
153 Million till wednesday. Theatres to count 3130 on Friday. Good for the film !
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 03-05-2004, 12:25 PM:
 
Regal Cinema World 8 here added a 2nd print starting today. Very unusual.
 

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Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 03-05-2004, 04:20 PM:
 
Looks like they added 37 prints.

Nationwide Passion was down -69% Wednesday and -48% Thursday.

Our theatre was down -75% Wednesday and -64% Thursday.
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 03-06-2004, 01:51 AM:
 
Here is an excellent comparison between this film and other successful debuts in the recent past at Boxofficemojo.com

Comparison between big earner films vis-a-vis PASSIOn

By this Sunday night, PASSION would have earned 200 million and should earn 65 Million at least between next Monday and Sunday. This way, at the end of two weeks PASSION will have an impressive 265 million. Though lesser than ROTK for the same frame, the drop in the the third and fourth week for PASSION will not be as intense as it was for ROTK, I predict. In fact, for two other films SPIDERMAN and PHANTOM MENACE, it was the third and fourth weeks which did not see a very big drop that proved crucial for both the films to cross 400 million each. Lets hope PASSION will maintain its lead well into April and April should very likely bless this film with remarkable numbers.
 

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Posted by Brad Allen (Member # 470) on 03-06-2004, 12:18 PM:
 
In my theatre Passion dropped;
Wed -24%
Thur -26%
Fri -17%

Very low drops for us. 35% is common for us for 2nd wks.
 

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Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 03-07-2004, 05:53 PM:
 
Surpassing $200M this weekend.
 

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Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 03-07-2004, 06:16 PM:
 
$212 million dollars, possible could climb higher by a few million as it did last week after initial figures were released.

Anyone care to change thier bets on this one?

Ciao

dave
 

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Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 03-08-2004, 12:36 AM:
 
I have said it before the release, and I will say it again. It is a no brainer that this movie will make big money everywhere. The whole risk factor was only in the minds of studio execs looking for excuses not to pick up this movie. In fact, this movie will even exceed ROTK grosses in some non muslim countries outside the Western European zone. And worldwide, it will probably earn close to what ROTK did. In fact, depending on how it is marketed in Eastern Europe and some asian countries, I won't be surprised to see it exceed ROTK's grosses. I can see missionaries do free marketing for this movie in underdeveloped countries as they will view this as their recruiting tool. The Lord of the Rings is not that well known in every part of the world compared to the story of Christ. I see Kamkshipalya put a ton of posts about this subject. I would rather see some of his perspectives on how this is going to being marketed in India rather than press excerpts in the west we can check up ourselves.
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 03-08-2004, 05:44 AM:
 
This film will have no difficulty surpassing the 400 million mark. That was what was once predicted and is what has been since stood by.

[ 03-08-2004, 07:41 AM: Message edited by: Kamakshipalya Dhananjay ]
 

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Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 03-08-2004, 03:58 PM:
 
EDI predicts Passion will go $325M+.

Nationally Passion dropped 39% according to EDI, and 36% according to Rentrak.

Our Passion numbers dropped 64%

This can be attributed to the following reasons:
1. We opened a better film week two than did other theatres. (Fog of War)
2. We live in a more liberal, less conservative city.
3. Our weather was so good this weekend that many people played outdoors instead of going to the movies.
 

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Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 03-08-2004, 04:56 PM:
 
Our Saturday drop: 0% (sold out all shows both Saturdays). The same holds true for Sunday (except the 9:30, which didn't sell out either Sunday).
 

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Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 03-08-2004, 10:58 PM:
 
Our business was also down, but just slightly.

Dustin
You never got back to me on the spreadsheets I sent you...DId you even get them?
 

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Posted by Kevin Wale (Member # 1851) on 03-09-2004, 01:02 AM:
 
Guymon Ok...

22 sell outs at overflowing. Not including private shows. No percentage drop. In fact when I talked to Todd he was pretty sure it might be a percentage increase on week two.

Looks like I'll be a part time shift manager for a while to give people some much needed rest. At least until I find a full time job. So, hopefully I'll get to know a bit more about the actual numbers.

The theatre I was working at in Virginia was booked for weeks so I can only assume the numbers held there as well. I have to call Judy this week so I'll ask her how it's doing there. It's a fairly liberal area believe it or not but that theatre gets quite a bit of conservative business.

From what I have been reading, this film isn't really being hurt by liberal areas at all and there is a significant amount of "non-believer" business which seems to be the most surprising part of the film's success. It seems that is a large part of why it is doing better than originally projected.
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 03-09-2004, 10:05 AM:
 
Well, the two propositions that made up this topic start were :
1. A 100 million in the first five days
2. A 400+ million for the entire run.

Unless participants take a definite stand on whether they agree with the only remaining proposition, a 400+ million in its entire run for this film, this discussion about daily numbers may not build up to much significance.

Many of us are now aware of the predictions made by some professional bodies, EDI, Rentrak, ER and so on. They all cite a 325+ million. Newmarket estimates between 300 and 350 million. So, in the light of all this, are you going to take any position on the remaining proposition ?

Do you agree at all that this film will cross that 400 million when it is recalled from theatres ?

A yes or A No. Nothing in between. Not a silence now and a quick jostle later that what happened after all was what you always knew ! Or that it was not a brainy thing after all !

Please say either a 'YES' or 'NO'.
 

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Posted by Jeremy Fuentes (Member # 2135) on 03-09-2004, 10:08 AM:
 
Maybe.
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 03-09-2004, 10:10 AM:
 
Again !

No Maybe.

No If so and so happens....

No If so and so does not happen...

No Subject to this and that

No Can't say

ONlY YES or NO.
 

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Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 03-09-2004, 10:18 AM:
 

quote:

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So, in the light of all this, are you going to take any position on the remaining proposition ?

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quote:

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Again !

No Maybe.

No If so and so happens....

No If so and so does not happen...

No Subject to this and that

No Can't say

ONlY YES or NO.

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quote:

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I think you're getting a bit too much into this. LOL

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quote:

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I then called up ICON office at Los Angeles. There is nobody there to handle issues such as these and however, I left a message in their mailbox.

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quote:

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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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quote:

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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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quote:

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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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quote:

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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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Thank you Kevin. The next reply that is not specific to how much money Passion is making will be deleted, this thread closed and that member banned. No religious discussions of any sort on these forums.
 

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Posted by Floyd Justin Newton (Member # 1316) on 03-18-2004, 06:15 PM:
 
Brad--

Thank you very much... enough is enough!
 

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Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 03-18-2004, 06:41 PM:
 
Looks like it's time to delete the post and close the thread
 

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Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 03-22-2004, 01:59 AM:
 

quote:

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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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Link to story (registration required).

How about a remake of Sodom and Gomorrah? That would pack 'em in...
 

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Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 03-22-2004, 02:32 AM:
 
I think it`s just hilarious and provoking how these studio executives just don`t have a clue of what`s going on and always miss the opportunity to try something new and/or different, then when a movie becomes a hit, they try to reproduce the new found "formula". Pathetic.
 

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Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 03-24-2004, 08:20 AM:
 
How much money do you think this would have made had any of the big studios actually picked this up right off the bat? I think that much of the controversy came to light only AFTER gibson had been spurned by the big boys and the thought came to mind that the film may not see distribution. That's when the public became interested in this film. Newmarket picked up on that and swooped up the film and will make an ungodly sum from this incredible business decision.

So far this thing has reached nearly 300 million and just surpassed "the sixth sense" on the all time list for domestic grosses, and just keeps climbing. The easter returns for this could easily push this thing to 350 million and higher by the end of april.

Mel gibson plans to do another religeous movie based on a massacre of jews 200 years before the time of christ. I think he sees a new market in film making and he may be correct. However, I don't think it ever would have taken off were it not for the fear the big boys felt. Good for them. Way to not make any real money this year.

And good for gibson. Maybe now he can make that sequel to Braveheart I have been waiting for all these years..

Ciao

Dave
 

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Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 03-24-2004, 12:48 PM:
 
If Gibson does decide to make another film like this, he should give exclusive distribution rights to Newmarket for having faith (pun intended) in him. It wouldn't be fair if one of the "big three" snatched it.

Take "Halloween" for example. Released by Compass International. Becomes hugely popular. "Halloween II" released by Universal Pictures.

=TMP=
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 04-02-2004, 01:52 AM:
 
318 Million till wednesday. Box office continues to favour this film and 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'. If one were to accept the theory that Box-office receipts (in terms of dollars) continues to grow with each year, then it is not in dispute that with market willing to spend X amount of money in a week on any 'set of films', the dominance in that market by any single film only deprives the others of the dollars. Anybody here agrees on this ?

That 'PASSION' possibly deprived a lot of other films of their market and money ?

Then again, anybody has any opinion on whether 'PASSION' makes forthcoming action/violent films pale in comparison ? After all, a lot of action movie fans too might have watched 'PASSION' and if this film is to serve thier assessment of 'action' in a forthcoming film, it is somewhat likely that many upcoming films will pale in comparison.

Besides, some critics might also argue that 'PASSION' has simply eroded the 'action movie fan' base simply because you can only put so much violence in a film and a mass acceptance of a film with extreme violence could mean that future action films may easily disappoint such fans.

Also, it is quite interesting to note that 'PASSION' has been very ordinary outside of North America.We do not know if it has really been so good in Canada either. But then, it is very ordinary terrain everywhere else.

For now, does 'PASSION' merit the classification 'ACTION' among others ?
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 04-02-2004, 12:26 PM:
 

quote:

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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!
 

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Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 04-04-2004, 12:47 PM:
 

quote:

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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'.

---

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.
 

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Posted by Mike Williams (Member # 1140) on 04-05-2004, 05:20 AM:
 
I think many people are holding on to it for Easter weekend.. After that, I would bet that it will quickly fade away domestically.
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 04-05-2004, 12:34 PM:
 
We finally opened the movie this past Friday (Apr 2) and had to book it for 2 weeks. Crowds have been good but not great ... in fact HIDALGO did better business here. I think word of mouth has been such that a lot of people have been scared off.

If we'd had this film on the break we'd have done three times the business on it. Oh well. Stupid film-company practices win again.
 

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Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 04-05-2004, 06:54 PM:
 
I agree with Thomas P. on Kamakshipalya's comments about grosses of movies like Scooby Doo and Dawn of the dead being affected by Passion. It makes no sense. I think the US grosses is a dead subject by now. Maybe we can get news of its reception in non US Countries.

Added comment in Edit: I did not mean that the US grosses were dead. Just that this topic about US grosses is pretty much a dead issue. Everyone acknowledges it has been a monster hit here.

[ 04-06-2004, 01:01 AM: Message edited by: Pravin Ratnam ]
 

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Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 04-05-2004, 08:13 PM:
 
At my 8, we're holding it on a triple for Easter Week.

Scooby-Doo shows matinees, Passion at 7, Dawn Of The Dead at 9 & Midnight
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 04-06-2004, 12:41 AM:
 
Please wait !

A 400 million is now closer and will come soon. Please take a closer look at the 'daily'(total) average for PASSION and the rest.

Is it without any reason that more theatres were added to 'PASSION' this week than what that movie has ever seen ? If many here were so right, most exhibitors ought to have thought that a 3000+ count for a movie in its fourth week was simply too much and should have come down in favour of other films. But that simply is not happening. In fact, just the reverse is true and so, why are some people here willing to bet even money to prove that 'PASSION' is due to doom ?

It is so obvious that many exhibitors have put their money already on 'PASSION' in a sense by holding on to it. I guess that is more than enough to keep our monies to ourselves !
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 04-06-2004, 01:52 PM:
 
My guess is the reason screen count has increased is:

a) The Easter weekend coming up; and

b) The fact that the film has finally become available to smaller theatres like mine. It opened in 4 single-screeners in our area alone last Friday.
 

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Posted by John T. Hendrickson, Jr (Member # 849) on 04-07-2004, 06:39 PM:
 
Mike Spaeth- How do you run Passion at 7 and Dawn of the Dead at 9, when Passion has a running time of 2'7"? Or am I missing something here?

Our last print of Passion ends its run Thursday night. Too many releases the past two weeks to hold it any longer.
 

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 04-08-2004, 03:52 PM:
 
That's too bad. All those other movies have fallen past it on Box Office Mojo.

Passion was #1 yesterday. The rest of the top ten was rounded out by all those other movies Mr. Hendrickson spoke of.
 

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Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 04-08-2004, 09:34 PM:
 
John - I meant 9:00 round, it's actually 9:55
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 04-08-2004, 11:36 PM:
 
I am sure it is atleast clear now that the rate of falling for most releases has been precipitated by PASSION's steady hold over Box office.

PASSION's is #1 on Wednesday and looks likely to harvest big on Friday.

None of the new releases for Friday,9th seem to have anything in them to reign at the Box office for any length of time. If RT is any indicator(a limited, though) of what to expect at the Box-office, then what to expect at all for :

WHOLE TEN YARDS - 3%

THE ALAMO - 32 %

JOHNSON FAMILY VACATION - 10%

ELLA ENCHANTED - 38%

GIRL NEXT DOOR - 62%

However, the fact that PASSION only recived 50% at RT is of little significance at this point - it never mattered to the paying public.

So, have the critics missed anything this week too ? I bet they have seen it right.
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 04-12-2004, 01:43 AM:
 
So, all new releases fell by the wayside. As expected PASSION simply rocks this weekend.

At this rate, what is PASSION headed for anyway ?

Neither Spiderman nor Starwars/Phantom Menace had any such windfall during their tenure. Both comfortably crossed 400 million. So, is PASSION going to be content with a mere 400 million ?
 

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 04-12-2004, 10:09 AM:
 
Did anyone else's booking department screw up this weekend besides mine? We were slated for one showing of Passion - during the 10:00 round. I think we answered more phone calls about why we weren't showing it on Easter weekend than we sold tickets for The Alamo.
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 04-12-2004, 01:54 PM:
 
Regal dropped TPOTC here Friday; Cinemark dropped from 2 screens to 1 screen. D'oh! I drove by the Regal location yesterday around 1PM and there were probably no more than 20 cars in the parking lot. Meanwhile TPOTC moved back into first place by a wide margin (and The Alamo has already been declared a major flop). Seems like someone screwed up.
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 04-12-2004, 06:48 PM:
 
Hmm. Anyone who didn't think this movie would get a huge bump over the Easter weekend should not be in the film-booking business.
 

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Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 04-14-2004, 05:34 PM:
 
I have been reading trade analysts predict "PASSION OF THE CHRIST" should make 400 million by the end of it's current north American engagements and I believe it can do it. The film could be another "ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW" if Mel Gipson re release the picture every Easter. Even if people will have the movie on DVD by next Easter, I am sure it will still do well in theatres every year during the Lenten season if theatres are available for rent during the showings.

-Claude.
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 04-14-2004, 07:50 PM:
 
A lady told me today that she "heard" that they are going to forego releasing PASSION on video, and instead "put it away" for a few years and then re-release it in theatres, the way Disney used to do with its animated films.

This would be a good idea for long term $$, but it would not bring in the billion bucks that a video release will, so I don't think it'll happen the way she "heard." Anybody else hear anything like this?

(Off-topic: Disney should go back to that practice. How much money has "Bambi" made them on video lately? It would be a lot better than their recent hand-animated films.)
 

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Posted by Mitchell Cope (Member # 32) on 04-14-2004, 09:18 PM:
 
USA Today reported that exhibitors are talking about the movie being an annual theatrical release around Easter each year. I think this would be a good idea, but I can't believe a regular video release on DVD and tape wouldn't be better. And why wouldn't you do both? It doesn't make sense to take this film away from the market for more than a year. If Gibson did remove the film away from the public for a period of time, what would prevent someone else from making another movie that's just as good or better?
 

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Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 04-17-2004, 10:45 AM:
 
Icon is currently fielding offers for DVD/video distribution, as well as pay per view, cable, and broadcast viewing. Mr. Gibson would like the broadcast on open air to be similar to that of Schindlers list, to be unedited and commercially uninterrupted (would contain a longer commercial up front and in the rear of the production, with perhaps an intermission to allow the queezy to go puke for a few minutes).

This is the standard look see for any film. Icon says they are looking for a pre christmas DVD release, followed by pay per view, cable and then broadcast by easter of next year.

Icon does plan on yearly or bi-yearly re-release of this film, however will not do so until all other avenues of distribution have been met first.

With the amount of money that is bieng floated around for broadcast offers, it is unlikely that a re-release would occur in theaters until 2006 or 2007, depending on the offer that is accepted. It is likely that whatever network that gets the right to open air broadcast, will insist on an exlusive airing, with no theater bookings, during thier first year or first few years of broadcast on the easter weekend.

However, it is unclear just what will happen as it is all in the works right now.

Its all about the money baby. So what they want and what will happen will all change within the next six months anyway.

Ciao

Dave
 

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Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 04-18-2004, 03:34 PM:
 
"The Passion" Dropped from #1 to #9 this weekend.

How's that for some "Unprecedented box office data?"

quote:

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The film could be another "ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW" if Mel Gipson re release the picture every Easter.

---

I don't think people throwing food while someone whips a leather-clad Jesus would fare too well with the Christians.

=TMP=
 

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 04-18-2004, 11:20 PM:
 
Yeah, but it's still right in there with a bunch of other movies making between 1 and 2 million a day too. A lot of theaters dumped it right after Easter which I'm sure hasn't helped it. We could have EASILY sold it out last weekend, but our retard bookers gave us one show each day - at 10pm. I think we had about 20 people show up each night. And the next day, it was gone.

I don't think I've ever seen us break down and ship out a movie that was #1 at the box office the day before. That was strange.
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 04-21-2004, 12:39 AM:
 
Well, PASSION is back to doing what it is simply good at - topping the Boxoffice.

On Monday, it is back to #3. By Thursday, where could it be ?
 

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Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 04-21-2004, 12:47 AM:
 
In #4, behind Hellboy.
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 05-02-2004, 05:23 AM:
 
Looks like a 400 million is very distant.
 

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 05-02-2004, 09:07 AM:
 
Yep, I agree. Especially with the summer line up right around the corner. Too many distributers pulled it too early tho. On Easter weekend, we could have cancelled any of our other films (including Alamo) and showed an unscheduled show of Passion, and our home office would have wanted to know why we were short staffed. As it was, we weren't showing Passion, and we were dead. Maybe I have it all wrong, and we're not in the business to make money after all.
 

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Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 05-04-2004, 12:57 PM:
 

quote: Kamakshipalya Dhananjay

---

Through its entire run, it will cross the 400 million mark for the same territory.

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quote: R. Andrew Diercks

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I think this film will have more repeat viewings than LOTR series.

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quote: Kamakshipalya Dhananjay

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I am going to stick to my original assessment. A 100 million in first five days for North America and a 400 million plus tally for the same territory.

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quote: Kamakshipalya Dhananjay

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In fact, I do sustain the other part of my (read 'our') prediction - that this film will go on to fetch 400 million or more from theatres in North America.

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quote: Kamakshipalya Dhananjay

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I bet they will need to revise this one too - to north of 400 million dollars.

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quote: Kamakshipalya Dhananjay

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This film will have no difficulty surpassing the 400 million mark. That was what was once predicted and is what has been since stood by.

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quote: Kamakshipalya Dhananjay

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Unless participants take a definite stand on whether they agree with the only remaining proposition, a 400+ million in its entire run for this film, this discussion about daily numbers may not build up to much significance.

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quote: Mark J. Marshall

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I'll go along with a > $400 million take. Remember we still have Easter coming up.

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quote: Kevin Wale

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It is extremely possible that it will surpass 400 mil. You can see that and you don't need us to tell you what you already know.

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quote: Kamakshipalya Dhananjay

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Again, I am not about to revise my estimates for PASSION. It will sail past the 400 million mark.

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quote: Kamakshipalya Dhananjay

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Please wait !
A 400 million is now closer and will come soon. Please take a closer look at the 'daily'(total) average for PASSION and the rest.

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quote: Kamakshipalya Dhananjay

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So, is PASSION going to be content with a mere 400 million ?

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quote: Claude S. Ayakawa

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I have been reading trade analysts predict "PASSION OF THE CHRIST" should make 400 million by the end of it's current north American engagements and I believe it can do it.

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quote: Kamakshipalya Dhananjay

---

Looks like a 400 million is very distant.

---

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

=TMP=
 

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Posted by Jeremy Fuentes (Member # 2135) on 05-04-2004, 01:04 PM:
 
Thomas, somehow I knew that was coming when I started reading your post. That must have taken forever to do.
 

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 05-04-2004, 01:16 PM:
 
I think Thomas bribed our bookers to drop it one week too early.

Its all a big conspiracy!!
 

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Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 05-04-2004, 04:17 PM:
 
Although it now appears the film will not hit the 400 million mark in theatres several of us has predicted, it will eventually make it and more when it is re released to theatres in the years ahead during Easter. The film is also expected to make almost as much as it had earned in theatres from the home video sales. Mel Gibson tried to sell the film to the networks but a deal could not be worked out because Gibson would not allow any cuts when it is shown. I do not think that is a great set back because the film can continued to be seen in theatres during Easter as well as home video on DVD and VHS tapes.

I have a confession to make regarding the film. I had planned to see it but after I heard how brutal it was, I decided to pass. I know this may sound very silly but I will wait for it to come out on home video and at least, I can fast forward the scenes that are brutally excessive and watch only the scenes I want to see.

-Claude
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-04-2004, 08:33 PM:
 
Claude - In that case, you'll be fast forwarding every minute or so during the second two-thirds of the film.

I wonder how many theatres will want to play this at Easter when it's out on video. It is truly a film that should be seen on the big screen, but the video will certainly cut the audience down.

I think they should film a new last reel, showing the events after the resurrection. The movie could end with the ascension. It would give the film a more uplifting ending and many who saw it before would flock to see it again. Of course, this new ending would not be in the first video release but would be held for a "very special edition" to be released in about 2006.
 

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Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 05-04-2004, 09:58 PM:
 
A certain genius with the initials PR said a few pages ago:
"My prediction is it will saturate around 380M. The 400M mark is a tad high for the initial run."

All I have to say is THE PRICE IS RIGHT , BITCH!
 

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Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 05-05-2004, 01:07 PM:
 
Claude -- That may not be a bad idea. I saw it when it came to our school, with a crowd of about 1500. During some of the more brutal scenes, it's very uncomfortable sitting among that many people. Not because it's "Christ" getting beaten, but it's even a bit too gorey for Horror status. I'll admit, I had to look away when I started to see bits of flesh fly about.

Jeremy -- Yes. It took a little longer than a half hour.

=TMP=
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 05-11-2004, 01:50 AM:
 
Well, just four days into release in India, PASSION is already a washout everywhere here.

Stupid distributors are all we have here in India. Releasing a film 10 weeks after the US debut is just as good as not releasing the film at all. And to complicate this rather disastrous performance, the distributor for PASSION chose to import the prints from abroad (than strike locally in which case costs could have been 40% lower). So, another reminder to Hollywood that their strategy in INDIA sucks, most of the time.

There will only be two simultaneous Hollywood releases in India this summer. One is DAY AFTER TOMORROW and the other is HARRY POTTER 3.

And I believe that the Hollywood executives here in INDIA are completely brainless simply because they believe it makes any sense to not release a big Hollywood film simultaneously with the US. If these executives are not at fault and it is instead their superiors sitting elsewhere, say Hongkong, London or Los Angeles, that are at fault, then I cannot but help say that such HOLLYWOOD decision makers look like they are not a shade better than any damning bureaucrat in a sub-saharan country.

BTW, I just heard this complaint from a devoted catholic couple who had been out to catch PASSION at a newly opened theatre in this city. The movie started an hour later than scheduled. The theatre had a occupancy of less than 10% for that show. As usual, a hour into the film, interval arrived. For a full 10 minutes, the audience were invaded with loud music (intermission audio, the norm across the Country) from artists such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, MLTR and then, the show resumed. This couple found themselves completely disoriented a few minutes into the resumption. They thought of leaving the theatre just then, but held on. They sat for the rest of the film and the lights were turned on later and it was time to leave...

This couple gets up and try to look at other souls in that auditorium. To their complete surprise, they see that everybody else had already left before the ending, probably soon after the interval.

Intervals are fun.
 

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Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 05-11-2004, 06:38 PM:
 
The DVD release date is August 31, with a retail price of $29.98 for DVD and $24.98 for VHS.
 

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Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 05-11-2004, 08:11 PM:
 
Regarding this DVD:

The The Digital Bits is reporting:

quote:

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20th Century Fox has revealed that they'll be releasing Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ on DVD on 8/31 (SRP $29.98). There will be few (if any) extras, so that the maximum video bit rate can be achieved for the film presentation. The disc will include both anamorphic widescreen and full frame versions, as well as audio in the original Aramaic/Latin in both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 surround (with English and Spanish subs). Sources are telling us that a more elaborate special edition release is in the works, for a possible Easter 2005 release.

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Video Store magazine reported that "customized church sleeves" will be available for bulk orders from churches.

Further discussion of the DVD should probably move over to the Afterlife. (I can think of no better title to discuss in a thread called the Afterlife.)
 

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Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 05-12-2004, 10:44 AM:
 
They probably didn't want to strike prints for Passion in India because of the horrible lab work that almost always comes out of there. The negative splices are bad enough, we don't need safelight fogging and sound dropouts, too. With the amount of safelight fog I've seen on Bollywood prints, you'd think they were playing flashlight tag in the labs!!

So no special features on the DVD to "preserve the bitrate" but they're including a complete second showing of the film for the fullscreeners. Just release a seperate disc!!

=TMP=
 

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Posted by Carl Martin (Member # 1146) on 05-13-2004, 02:37 AM:
 
is there really a completely separate set of data for each version, or can the 2 versions share what they have in common (a lot)?

carl
 

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 05-14-2004, 08:20 AM:
 
Carl,

That's an excellent question. You'd think they would have had the forsight when creating the DVD standard that make that part of the implementation, but they didn't, so to answer your question, yes it is a completely separate set of data.

Mark
 

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Posted by Dean Kollet (Member # 1789) on 05-21-2004, 11:55 AM:
 
they will obviously be on both sides of the disk (Widesreen on One, Fullscreen on the other)..I hope
 

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Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 05-21-2004, 09:04 PM:
 
Are you saying if I have a disk and the player gives me options of 4:3*, 4:3 letterbox, or 16:9 (with the latter giving an anamorphic image when viewed on a conventional screen) that the 4:3 pan & scan version is different data and not just extracted from the widescreen version? That's without flopping the disk although I have no idea if they are using 2 layers.

[Using these stupid terms under protest. 1.33 & 1.78 are much preferred]

KD: I'm not entirely following why you say they must release day and date everywhere. Is it because the media hype for the US release becomes worldwide and interest has long past by the time the film opens there or is it because of rampant video piracy and everyone interested has already seen it via bootleg?
 

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Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 05-26-2004, 03:04 AM:
 

quote: Mark J. Marshall

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You'd think they would have had the forsight when creating the DVD standard that make that part of the implementation, but they didn't

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quote: Mark J. Marshall

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Michael,
Can you provide a link to that, or site some DVDs that have used that? I can't seem to find any reference to it in the DVD specs.

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I don't have any links handy. It's also possible I have misinterpreted what is being discussed and asked. But, if I've understood correctly, here's what I can offer based on my understanding of this concept.

Implementation in the DVD standard can be evidenced by DVD players having two separate 4:3 settings: one "4:3 letterbox," one "4:3 pan-and-scan."

With most [widescreen-formatted) DVDs, there won't be any noticeable difference from the "4:3 Letterbox" mode if the user selects a player setting of "4:3 pan-and-scan" because the discs haven't been encoded (flagged, etc.) to play any differently. (The only likely encoding would be, if the disc is 16:9 enhanced, for it to downconcert properly to 4:3 letterbox if that player setting is selected and a 4:3 TV is used.) But, pop in a disc such as Criterion's The Last Temptation Of Christ (a bit ironic given the main subject title of this thread!), select 4:3 pan-and-scan on your player, and watch what happens.
 

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Posted by Jeremy Fuentes (Member # 2135) on 06-01-2004, 01:35 PM:
 
I think this thread has taken a turn towards The Afterlife
 

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 06-14-2004, 04:03 AM:
 
Should it not be obligatory for DVDs to include information about the subtitle-author ? And of the translator ?
 

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Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 06-15-2004, 12:40 AM:
 
They must be waiting for the DVD. We opened this thing sub run 2 weeks ago and kept it one week. It only brought 257 patrons on Saturday night at 7:15. The rest of the week it only broke 100 twice.
 

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Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 06-15-2004, 01:37 AM:
 
It did badly where I ran it, very small single screen house. It ran 11 screenings, of which I ran 5; on four of these it brought in between 10 and 20, on the last one it had getting on for 50. They're bring it back next month too.

It's a bit of a strange film; it doesn't really fit into conventional mainstream or art-house.
 

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Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 12-20-2004, 11:56 AM:
 
What ever happened to Kamakshipalya Dhananjay?



=TMP=
 

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Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 12-20-2004, 12:16 PM:
 
He probably got tired of some people being jerks and constantly making fun of him and left.
 

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