janelle
01-28-2004, 04:19 PM
Mel Gibson's movie about the last hour of Christ's life has stirred up a storm. It will be a hot ticket when it opens next month.
BY TRACY CONNOR
New York Daily News
Call it a holy war -- and it's coming to a theater near you. Mel Gibson's controversial new movie about the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ has ignited unprecedented outrage, passion and -- most of all -- anticipation a month before it even opens.
Against unbelievable odds, "The Passion of the Christ" is now shaping up to be the hottest ticket in the history of Hollywood when it finally hits theaters on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 25.
Jewish leaders have blasted the movie as anti-Semitic and warned it could ruin interfaith relations for decades. "He didn't miss any chance to malign Jews," said Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League.
But many church groups are planning massive pilgrimages to the theaters, buying up blocks of thousands of tickets.
And plenty of other New Yorkers, from the faithful to film geeks, are scrambling for tickets too to see what the fuss is about.
"This is really the highest demand we have seen this far in advance for group sales," said Dick Westerling of Regal Entertainment, a major cinema chain.
Regal has booked the flick at three of its Manhattan theaters. In Brooklyn, Norman Adie hopes to open the movie in two of his three Pavilion theaters.
"I'm hearing from my staff the interest is enormous," Adie said.
Filling seats, at least during the first weekend, shouldn't be a problem because this is one religious film that's getting more buzz than a plague of locusts.
The New York-based Catholic League bought 1,200 tickets at $9.75 apiece and will make them available to members for $5.
"We could probably sell 10,000 of these tickets," said Catholic League President William Donohue. "The reason I'm subsidizing it is to make a point -- it's important to see this movie. And it's to drive Mel's critics crazy."
It's a stunning turnaround for a movie that, just six months ago, looked to have little chance at the box office.
Its lead actors -- James Caviezel as Jesus and Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene -- were relative unknowns compared with their superstar director.
The movie, which chronicles the last 12 hours of Christ's life, contains some of the most brutal violence ever shot, and the dialogue is in dead languages, Aramaic and Latin.
More damning, an interfaith group of scholars condemned an early script, arguing it blamed Jews for the Crucifixion and would spur anti-Semitism.
There were rumblings that Gibson's labor of love was a $25 million vanity project, something along the lines of John Travolta's "Battlefield Earth."
"Overall, nobody cared about it. They thought it was some fool's quest," said Harry Knowles, the film fan behind the Web site aintitcoolnews.com.
"But then Mel started showing it around to various special interest groups -- politicos and religious groups -- and word started leaking out about people being shook to their souls. (Now) we were talking about how powerful a film it was, as opposed to how much did it cost, how stupid it was."
In December, Knowles persuaded Gibson to show the film at a 24-hour marathon in Austin, Texas.
"The audience was blown away," he said. "And those were film lovers, not necessarily the most religious people."
By October, Gibson had found a distributor, New York-based Newmarket Films, which decided to open "The Passion" on 2,000 screens nationwide. English subtitles were added.
Raves from the religious kept pouring in. In November, the Rev. Billy Graham said he was moved to tears. The next month came reports that Pope John Paul had given his blessing.
"It is as it was," the pontiff was quoted as saying. Still, controversy dogged the film.
Last week, the pope's right-hand man denied that the holy father had plugged the film. And Gibson's detractors' remain vocal.
"I find, with some exceptions, basically Christians who see it like it or feel a catharsis, and Jews who see it feel troubled," said Foxman.
Foxman isn't surprised by the demand for tickets, just uneasy. "He's selling it as a religious experience," he said of Gibson. "It's not just another movie. This is now becoming a Christian obligation."
BY TRACY CONNOR
New York Daily News
Call it a holy war -- and it's coming to a theater near you. Mel Gibson's controversial new movie about the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ has ignited unprecedented outrage, passion and -- most of all -- anticipation a month before it even opens.
Against unbelievable odds, "The Passion of the Christ" is now shaping up to be the hottest ticket in the history of Hollywood when it finally hits theaters on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 25.
Jewish leaders have blasted the movie as anti-Semitic and warned it could ruin interfaith relations for decades. "He didn't miss any chance to malign Jews," said Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League.
But many church groups are planning massive pilgrimages to the theaters, buying up blocks of thousands of tickets.
And plenty of other New Yorkers, from the faithful to film geeks, are scrambling for tickets too to see what the fuss is about.
"This is really the highest demand we have seen this far in advance for group sales," said Dick Westerling of Regal Entertainment, a major cinema chain.
Regal has booked the flick at three of its Manhattan theaters. In Brooklyn, Norman Adie hopes to open the movie in two of his three Pavilion theaters.
"I'm hearing from my staff the interest is enormous," Adie said.
Filling seats, at least during the first weekend, shouldn't be a problem because this is one religious film that's getting more buzz than a plague of locusts.
The New York-based Catholic League bought 1,200 tickets at $9.75 apiece and will make them available to members for $5.
"We could probably sell 10,000 of these tickets," said Catholic League President William Donohue. "The reason I'm subsidizing it is to make a point -- it's important to see this movie. And it's to drive Mel's critics crazy."
It's a stunning turnaround for a movie that, just six months ago, looked to have little chance at the box office.
Its lead actors -- James Caviezel as Jesus and Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene -- were relative unknowns compared with their superstar director.
The movie, which chronicles the last 12 hours of Christ's life, contains some of the most brutal violence ever shot, and the dialogue is in dead languages, Aramaic and Latin.
More damning, an interfaith group of scholars condemned an early script, arguing it blamed Jews for the Crucifixion and would spur anti-Semitism.
There were rumblings that Gibson's labor of love was a $25 million vanity project, something along the lines of John Travolta's "Battlefield Earth."
"Overall, nobody cared about it. They thought it was some fool's quest," said Harry Knowles, the film fan behind the Web site aintitcoolnews.com.
"But then Mel started showing it around to various special interest groups -- politicos and religious groups -- and word started leaking out about people being shook to their souls. (Now) we were talking about how powerful a film it was, as opposed to how much did it cost, how stupid it was."
In December, Knowles persuaded Gibson to show the film at a 24-hour marathon in Austin, Texas.
"The audience was blown away," he said. "And those were film lovers, not necessarily the most religious people."
By October, Gibson had found a distributor, New York-based Newmarket Films, which decided to open "The Passion" on 2,000 screens nationwide. English subtitles were added.
Raves from the religious kept pouring in. In November, the Rev. Billy Graham said he was moved to tears. The next month came reports that Pope John Paul had given his blessing.
"It is as it was," the pontiff was quoted as saying. Still, controversy dogged the film.
Last week, the pope's right-hand man denied that the holy father had plugged the film. And Gibson's detractors' remain vocal.
"I find, with some exceptions, basically Christians who see it like it or feel a catharsis, and Jews who see it feel troubled," said Foxman.
Foxman isn't surprised by the demand for tickets, just uneasy. "He's selling it as a religious experience," he said of Gibson. "It's not just another movie. This is now becoming a Christian obligation."