Mel Gibson Refunds ‘Passion’ Previewers

Actor/director Mel Gibson's latest demonstration of generosity and fair play is another lesson Hollywood – and much of America – ought to learn.

His production company, Icon, is sending out checks to scores of church groups that were charged an extra fee to preview his blockbuster film "The Passion of the Christ" before it hit theaters last year. According to The Wall Street Journal, Icon "screened the film for many church groups in a bid to build word-of-mouth buzz."

But Icon says Regal Entertainment Group, the movie theater company that provided the screenings, charged a $500 "worship fee" to hundreds of the church groups.

Regal says the fee was usual and customary, that it was charged as a way to recoup overhead expenses involved in providing the screenings.

Still, Icon says, the company "was shocked and disappointed that this additional fee (which was never reported to us) was being charged to faith-based organizations," according to a letter sent to hundreds of church groups and reviewed by the Journal.

Icon filed suit against Regal, the nation's No. 1 movie theater chain, last June, alleging the company did not pay the appropriate amount of box office revenue. Gibson's movie, the third-largest-grossing film in the U.S. in 2004, raked in more than $600 million worldwide.

Regal has settled with Icon for an undisclosed amount, though the theater company "said last week the settlement would result in an $8.3 million reduction in previously reported fourth-quarter net income," the Journal reported, adding it more than likely "paid considerably more than that."

Gibson's Icon says it discovered the pre-screening charge during the lawsuit proceedings. In that suit, Icon "said it had suffered damages in excess of $40 million," the Journal reported.

"The Passion" is set to return to the big screen over Easter in a shorter, less violent form, say Icon officials. Gibson, a devout Catholic, wanted the film's re-release to coincide with the Bible's account of Jesus' resurrection following his crucifixion.

Icon filed suit against Regal, the nation's No. 1 movie theater chain, last June, alleging the company did not pay the appropriate amount of box office revenue.

This one has me curious. Weren't there reports around at the time Passion was in the theaters of ticket booth pions issuing tickets for other movies, under the guise of their being "out of tickets" for the screens where The Passion was being shown?

I sort of remember reading those reports, and it being suggested that some anti-religious theater owners/employees were trying to suppress the numbers....

I never heard of a "worship fee."

Hey Rev, isn't this how the Free Methodists got here? ;-)

yeah huh - actually pew rental - the rich folks got the better seats

(capitalist scum):)

also split over that silly slavery thingy

the year was 1860 Pekin NY

Benjamin Titus Roberts

"I'm sorry folks, but this is a political forum. Not a forum to spout off your religious bigotry.
Mormons are good conservatives. That's all I care about"

Your reasoning is precisely why we are politically in such a mess. If a cult which is damaging to its people is considered okay because they are "good conservatives," how can that be good for the populace as a whole? Truth, right and wrong, should matter.

If any other group was counterfeiting, calling itself, say, "The Pentagon" when it wasn't the Pentagon, wouldn't it be wrong not to rise up and speak truth and to not allow it to do so? Multiple millions call themselves Christians, yet are actually a counterfeit cult as Mormonism, and if the rest of people say nothing, because they want those Republican votes, they are as guilty of allowing the falsity without protest, as those within the cult.

Is being a "good conservative" someone who takes historical terms and meanings, redefines them in opposite ways, applies them to themselves, and then claims to be something it is not?

Are they "pro family?" How pro are they caring for their families while they teach their children these false teachings? These men plan to be Gods on their own planet one day, with their multiple wives. The ability to slap the real God in the face so brazenly shows the depth of evil character.

How loving are the Mothers who allow their children to be raised this way? They should study for themselves and find the contradictions between Scripture and the cult. How positive is a group whose core is based on deceit? Is this helpful to our future society or world or neighbors? Are they in promoting truth and character, when they are entrenched in a cult which is deceptive to its core? All Christian denominiations agree Mormons are NOT a Christian denomination.

Why promote dishonesty, just to get a Republican vote? I would not call them "good conervatives.' That is an insult to all truly good conservatives.

And yes, this is a political forum, but such a major group affects our politics. The reason America has been great is because of the truth of Judeo-Christian influence, not LDS, not Islamic, not Buddhist. Our religion affects our politics. A worldview which is false does not provide the wisdom necessary for society.

Jesus said His kingdom is not of this world. That does not mean we should just allow evil to rule. We just are to realize there are Two Kingdoms, and to want to be in the right one, His, through the grace offered in the real Jesus Christ's death for us. His resurrection proves He is God, and Mormonism is false. All Jesus taught is contrary to Mormonism.

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