Posted on 02/10/2005 9:31:59 PM PST by mowkeka
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Hollywood mogul Mel Gibson will release a new, low-violence version of his 2004 surprise mega-hit "The Passion of Christ" next month.
The star, dubbed Hollywood's most powerful figure since the huge success of the low-budget, graphically gory film, is trimming five to six minutes of violent scenes ahead of the film's March 11 reappearance on US screens, Daily Variety reported Thursday..
The original film raked in 370.2 million dollars in its North American run that began on Ash Wednesday one year ago, but Gibson noted that many people had avoided the film because of its grisly portrayal of Jesus Christ being tortured by Roman troops.
"There has been quite a demand by the religious community to bring (the film) back for Easter," Bruce Davey, Gibson's partner at Icon Productions, told Variety.
"And there has been a lot of discussion about the violence. Mel wanted to try and accommodate those people by making a version that is softer and gentler," he said.
"The Passion Recut," will be beamed onto 500 to 750 screens by distributor Newmarket Films, Variety said, adding that the new versions would not be lumbered with an audience age restriction.
The new less violent version of the film goes easier on the brutal details of the last days of Christ.
"There are no new scenes, and the cuts are limited to the more violent aspects of the film, if that's the right term. The scourging scene in particular has been substantially adjusted."
The film caused huge controversy in the United States, with Jewish leaders accusing the devoutly-Catholic Gibson of anti-Semitism by portraying Jews as responsible for Christ's death, a charge he denied.
But instead of keeping audiences away, the controversy at the bloody religious epic helped draw people into theatres, despite a minimum of traditional publicity.
What I think he should do next?
Produce another film with the same authenticity, attention to detail, and faithfulness to the Bible on the birth of Christ.
It would be another blockbuster...describing "the true meaning of Christmas" which most movies now depict as somebody who is mean being nice for one day.
Well, I was going to go again but if he's going to sanititize it for the critics that thought it would turn Christians into lynch mobs out for Jewish blood.......I don't know.
>version of his 2004 surprise mega-hit
It's always a "surprise" when a Christian movie does well.
>What I think he should do next?
Was he not going to do a Hanukah flick?
370 million dollars gross in North America? I wonder what the worldwide gross was?
maybe next year he'll hire George Lucas to redo the special effects.
I'm SO glad it came out. It sure touched many people including me, and it vividly showed how much Christ suffered for us. It wasn't easy to do what He did I'm sure. It shocks people into reality, how much He loved us to die that way. I really am skeptical about them taking out the grisly scenes, but if it will get more folks to watch it, then I'm all for it. I'm really just glad they are putting it back on movie screens.
with all due respect, I really need Mad Max IV.
Plus DVD and homevideo.
The present DVD did well. But I was disappointed that there were absolutely no commentaries. So I returned it to Costco. If the abridged version at least has some running commentary, that would make it a keeper, for me.
A five minute movie?
A careful study of the Bible would reveal that Jesus was not born in December, thus ruling out your Christmas story.
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