Posted on 03/16/2005 10:25:17 AM PST by My Favorite Headache
'Robots' Rivets, 'Passion' Fails to Rise Again by Brandon Gray March 15, 2005
Almost as phenomenal a failure as it was a blockbuster last year, the trimmed The Passion of the Christ re-release, The Passion Recut, drew $223,789 from 954 venues—averaging a paltry $234 per site. Director Mel Gibson and distributor Newmarket expected more business in the hope of making The Passion an Easter tradition, but fans of the movie were not devout enough after seeing it in droves in its $370.3 million original run and on DVD—which is far cheaper than a night at the picture show and the main threat to theatrical re-releases in this digital age.
The dismal returns of The Passion Recut may suggest that The Passion of the Christ was an of-the-moment cultural event last year. It was a statement in favor of a religious incumbent in a presidential election year, heightened by the war and the perceived nihilism of Hollywood. At the time, Mr. Gibson explained why he regarded the graphic violence as necessary to the story, and the audience generally agreed. By shearing six minutes of gore to attract those who might have otherwise found it unsettling, he contradicts his previously stated views and seems willing to compromise his hard fought artistic vision for a few extra bucks.
The Passion Recut was all for naught. Those who criticized the movie's extreme violence most vocally were fundamentally opposed to The Passion in the first place. They were not simply squeamish Christians. Less violence appears to have alienated the picture's fan base and failed to convert non-believers, while the editing has undermined Mr. Gibson's status as the David versus Goliath Hollywood.
(Excerpt) Read more at boxofficemojo.com ...
Obviously not.
It proves that people are more willing to watch it at home on DVD.
I think a great deal of its audience consisted of people who don't really go to the movies in general. Now that they have it on DVD they would probably feel no need in seeing it in a theater again. Just a guess.
I have the DVD and am planning to watch it during Holy Week.
I'm not that suprised at all. This was a watered down version of the original. If I want to see about Jesus being crucified, I will rent the DVD and face the reality of it, not feel ashamed and see Jesus-lite.
Basically this is what happens when you pander to the PC/For The Children crowd. In the end...they are the true minority.
Less gore.
I don't think it is even on here. But I have the DVD, and seldom go to the movies.
I doubt cutting 6 minutes from 150 is really watering down anything.
They may have had to wait a year, but the entertainment industry finally got the 'crash & burn' story they so dearly wanted.
Frankly, it *is* too brutal to be a 'tradition' movie.
Zafarelli's (sp?) JoN movie can be watched repeatedly, otoh.
Just different angles and stuff...you don't hear a lot of the whipping or the bones crunching and when the crown of thorns is placed and stuck into his skull..you don't see it like you saw in the original..you see a far angle shot of it happening but not so graphic.
The catholic church has holy week from Palm Sunday to Easter. Isn't that long enough?
Oh, and on the movie, many have purchased the DVD. If Gibson was in trouble or the movie were being picketed, I buy 10 tickets.
Give it time.This re-cut will enable parents to take their children with them to see it.The kids are still in school and only have the weekend to view it.I expect it will do well during spring break.
Silly. I haven't seen it and have no plans to, but it doesn't take a genius to see that if you hype a film, have HUGE audiences who see it ASAP, show it on pay-per-view, AND it's on DVD so people can OWN it, you're not gonna get a huge box office one year later.
The whole "traditional" release idea just won't fly when the "traditional" movies are all seen on TV: "It's A Wonderful Life" at Christmas, "Ten Commandments" at Easter, for example.
This ain't rocket science. When people own it, they're not gonna spend money to see it.
Now, don't start flaming me - YES, I saw The Passion when it originally came out. It was just too much - it focused far more on the method of Christ's death (and the sadism of the Romans) and His agony than it did His ministry, His sacrifice, His atonement for the sins of the world, and His resurrection. The strongest message the film gave was, "OW! That really had to hurt!", "Ewww! That's gross!", and "Wow! I can't believe He went through all that for me." Yes, the latter is a good message but one that could have been achieved without having to wade through all of the gratuitous blood and gore. How do I know this? I've seen it done in other much lesser known films.
It's not a shock, and their interpretation is totally wrong. The reason Passion isn't doing well in re-release is that it's only a year later and in this modern DVD culture primary reason for re-releases is gone. Back in the day they could re-release a hit movie a few years later because you probably hadn't seen it again since the original release. It's been much less than a few years, and since the DVD came out 6 months ago there's a good chance people have already rewatched it recently, hence there's no market for the re-released product, hence it's bombing. I doubt any movie would do much better being re-released 1 year later, the movie market just doesn't support that anymore.
If that is the case then they better hurry because it will be pulled from theaters after next Sunday's run from what I hear.
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