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im Caviezel, the star of the blockbuster film The Passion of the Christ, told an interviewer that he had been challenged by a friend who was not pro-life to live up to his professed pro-life convictions and adopt a disabled child. The friend told Caviezel that if he did that, then he would change to the pro-life position. When Caviezel and his wife, Kerri, went to China to adopt not one, but eventually two orphans suffering from brain tumours, the friend reneged on the deal. Caviezel, however, said, "It didn't matter to me because the joy that we had from...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Mel Gibson, who's being sued by a writer over payment for the "The Passion of the Christ" screenplay, wants to keep financial information about the blockbuster movie out of the public eye. Benedict Fitzgerald claimed in his February lawsuit that Gibson misled him into accepting a small payment for writing the script by saying the movie would cost between $4 million and $7 million. Fitzgerald, who shared screenwriting credits with Gibson, claimed he agreed to "a salary substantially less than what he would have taken had he known the true budget for the film," which the...

Bella, an independent film staring Mexican superstar Eduardo Verástegui, is scheduled for limited release in theatres on October 26. The movie, an inspirational drama set in modern-day New York, has what America's been asking for but what Hollywood refuses to give. Having won the People's Choice Award at last year's Toronto Film Festival, you'd think major Hollywood distribution companies would be crawling over one another for a crack at the film. But such is not the case. Bella's central theme puts a premium on the value of human life — including life in the womb — and that is a...

(AP) Mel Gibson's apology for making drunken anti-Semitic remarks isn't enough to redeem him, actor-producer Rob Reiner said. The actor also must acknowledge that "his work reflects anti-Semitism," particularly the 2004 hit movie "The Passion of the Christ," Reiner told Associated Press Radio.

It has taken a couple of weeks, but the reviews from evangelical Christian leaders about Mel Gibson's latest performance are now in. Gibson's drunken remarks about "(expletive) Jews" being responsible for "all the wars in the world," which the actor made to a Los Angeles sheriff's deputy who pulled him over on July 28, were "hurtful and unfortunate" (James Dobson), "reprehensible . . . shameful" (the Rev. James Merritt) and "cause for concern" (the Rev. Ted Haggard). But has the actor-director's intemperate speech by the side of a highway prompted any prominent evangelical leader to voice second thoughts about the...

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 11) - Focus on the Family ministry founder James Dobson spoke in support Thursday of Mel Gibson and his film, "The Passion of the Christ," saying Gibson's drunken tirade during a traffic stop had nothing to do with "one of the finest films of this era." Gibson, 50, was arrested for drunken driving Aug. 1 in Malibu, Calif., and launched an anti-Semitic rant toward the arresting deputy. Gibson reportedly said, "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world," and asked him, "Are you a Jew?" Dobson said in a statement that "we certainly...

TWO INCIDENTS occurred on July 28. Both took place on the West Coast; both involved an American venting his hostility to Jews. But only one of them became, in the days that followed, the big national story about anti-Semitism. The other was treated as a serious but local matter, and drew only modest coverage around the country.

by Mark Finkelstein August 5, 2006 - 21:57 Neal Gabler might not look like an athlete, but don't be surprised to see him lining up for the long jump at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. For on this evening's Fox News Watch, Neal took a leap of logic of Beamonesque proportions. According to Gabler, the fact that a drunken Gibson made anti-Semitic remarks retroactively proves that his 'Passion of the Christ' was anti-Semitic too. Here's how the liberal media critic put it: "The interest here is 'The Passion.' It made something like $400 million. It was accused of being anti-Semitic. The...

The following is the complete text of Mel Gibson's statement regarding his arrest for investigation of driving under the influence of alcohol: "After drinking alcohol on Thursday night, I did a number of things that were very wrong and for which I am ashamed. I drove a car when I should not have, and was stopped by the L.A. County sheriffs. The arresting officer was just doing his job and I feel fortunate that I was apprehended before I caused injury to any other person. "I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested, and said...

Where is 'Jesus' these days? The answer is thus: He's at the University of Notre Dame studying Spanish. "I'm in the process of finally getting my college degree," said actor Jim Caviezel, whose astonishing portrayal of Christ in Mel Gibson's remarkable "The Passion of the Christ" catapulted him to stardom. "I'm now too old to be Jesus," chuckled Caviezel, 37, who just wrapped shooting "Deja Vu" with Denzel Washington in New Orleans. "You can now call me Moses." I caught Caviezel via cell phone as he scurried across the campus of his dreams last Friday. "It's like home here," he...

The latest issue of Entertainment Weekly (aka the official magazine of office receptionists) takes a stab at listing the 25 most controversial movies of all time. "Every now and then, a film comes along that can genuinely get someone's goat without any studio goosing. Films whose incendiary elements can inspire an offended party to pick up a picket, call for a boycott, even pray for divine intervention. These can be important, progressive, taboo-shattering films--or merely films that feature a lot of randy humping. They can also be films that are truly, objectively despicable." I have real problems with EW's list:...

The media buildup of The Da Vinci Code is now history. (Or, at least, should be; though, it was curious a week out—at the start of the Memorial Day weekend when everyone was relaxing at the beach, or the equivalent—to see all the Code coverage, including Dateline’s Dan Brown interview and Anderson Cooper’s 360º “decoding” feature.) Now, it’s time to weigh the hype against the raw numbers. (Which, no doubt, the media conglomerates are watching closely, as well, and may explain NBC’s and CNN’s renewed attention to yesterday’s news.) According to IMDb Box Office figures, the “all time” top 10...

The US is powerful and religious; the EU is weak and secular. Mark Steyn wonders whether it is any coincidence. ------------------------------------------------------ The other day, the guy on my local radio station mentioned that The Passion of The Christ was the Number One movie in America. ‘So congrats to Mel Gibson,’ he said. ‘And it’ll probably hold on to the Number One slot until the new Starsky & Hutch opens.’

Hollywood puts its faith in holy films John Harlow, Los Angeles HOLLYWOOD, long accused of promoting Godless amorality, has found religion. Studio executives are praying that a flood of Christian films will rescue them from a slump by performing miracles at the multiplex. Inspired by The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson’s vision of the crucifixion, which earned £400m at the box office, Hollywood is directing Oscar-winning stars such as Hilary Swank and William Hurt to show their spiritual side on screen. First into the cinemas will be The Da Vinci Code, starring Tom Hanks and Audrey Tatou, due for...

Inspired by box-office smashes such as The Passion of the Christ and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, studios are not only casting an eye to more religious-themed stories, but they're also marketing movies more aggressively than ever to churchgoers. Producers now find themselves making sales pitches to ministers. Executives are screening films in church community rooms. One studio has created a "faith division" to market to the devout. The strategy has two aims: to use faith-based hits to help staunch a three-year box-office slide and to convert those with little faith in Hollywood fare...

On this Holy Thursday EvE, will anyone before Easter-be watching the Passion of the Christ? In loving memory of Jesus Christ ,true God and true Man-Out of love for mankind He allowed this suffering to open Heaven's Gate, by the will of the Father. We adore Thee O Christ and we bless Thee because by Thy most Holy Cross Thou hast redemmed the world----lest we forget!

Get prepared. This film of the Passion isn't your typical Hollywood production, and it's producers say playing the race card is needed. It's not Mel Gibson's The Passion, but folks involved in this big-screen's production are no less passionate in bringing this adaption of Christ's last 48 hours to your local cinema house in a film that openly plays the race card - with the Messiah cast as a black man. This racial perspective to the conventional biblical story, the producers say, "is sure to challenge Conservative Christian beliefs."

Mel Gibson made so much money from “The Passion of the Christ” that he’s now putting it where his mouth is, so to speak. He’s continuing to build a religious compound in Malibu for Catholics who reject Vatican II, and is implicitly endorsing his controversial father’s beliefs by helping him launch a similar church in Pennsylvania. Last year, according to federal tax filings, Gibson parked $5 million of his "Passion" profits in his tax-free private foundation — the same vehicle he’s used to pour millions into a 17-acre religious compound he’s building in Agoura Hills, Calif., at a “secret” rural...

SPECIAL ALERT! NBC to mock the Crucifixion of Christ Dear (received via e-mail), NBC, fresh from giving us the anti-Christian The Book of Daniel, has decided to hit back at the Christian community by presenting an episode of Will and Grace which mocks the crucifixion of Christ. On the April 13 edition of NBC's Will and Grace, Britney Spears will appear as a Christian conservative sidekick to Sean Hayes' homosexual character, Jack, who hosts his own talk show. Jack's fictional network, Out TV, is bought by a Christian TV network, leading to Spears contributing a cooking segment called "Cruci-fixin's." To...

A new spec screenplay has created a lot of heat in Hollywood thanks to Mel Gibson's THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST. Bobby Florsheim and Josh Stolberg's THE PASSION OF THE ARK was sold to Columbia Pictures for $1.5 million dollars, with another million waiting for the two writers if the project gets greenlighted. It's a huge sale for the industry, especially for two previously unproduced screenwriters, but that's the kind of heat that high concept religious movie ideas have in the wake of Gibson's CHRIST film. THE PASSION OF THE ARK is set in the modern day and follows a...

When did being obnoxious start getting confused with being intellectual? Honestly, I was just in another forum where somebody posted a picture of Jesus hanging on a cross with the caption "Happy Hanukkah, we killed your savior." Didn't these same people bitch and moan when the "Passion Of The Christ" came out because they said Mel Gibson was trying to say just that? But now if you're a left winger you can make a joke out of it and it's okay? The people who do this sort of thing call it "discussion". If you respond to them in like manner,...

http://www.apple.com/trailers/touchstone/apocalypto/ The Teaser for Mel Gibson's Apocalypto Source: Touchstone Pictures December 21, 2005 Your first look at director Mel Gibson's Apocalypto is now online at Apple, where you can view the teaser trailer in High Definition QuickTime here and in regular QuickTime formats here. Co-written by Gibson and Farhad Safinia, Apocalypto is a heart stopping mythic action-adventure set against the turbulent end times of the once great Mayan civilization. When his idyllic existence is brutally disrupted by a violent invading force, a man is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression where a harrowing...

Until Mel Gibson delivered "The Passion of the Christ" to the world, Hollywood had no use for religion in movies. "The Ten Commandments" was ancient history, "Ben Hur" a dusty page in movie history. Spirituality was anathema to box office profits. But when Gibson's "Passion" earned $370 million in the United States and $611 million worldwide -- flabbergasting Hollywood, the secular world and the country's growing Christian demographic -- opinion changed. Today, studios are striving to capitalize on the market that "Passion" established -- and a 55-year-old tale from an Oxford theologian is the movie industry's biggest hope. "This is...

That’s what Barbara Nicolosi, who teaches Christians the art of screenwriting, told Godspy, an online magazine, in a recent interview. “A Christian project saved the global box office from 2001 to 2003 with Tolkien’s trilogy, The Lord of the Rings. Then another Christian project, The Passion of the Christ, saved the global cineplexes in 2004. And yet another Christian story is going to save the entertainment industry this year with C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” That’s the movie that opens Dec. 9 and is based on the novel by Christian apologist C.S. Lewis, the 20th-century Anglican...

Christian vs Christian in pop culture smackdown: "Mel Gibson's film production company has filed a lawsuit against a Utah firm for editing his movie The Passion of the Christ. The suit targets Ray Lines and his company CleanFlicks, which edits the nudity, violence and foul language out of films. (...) "The lawsuit is not asking for compensation, KUTV reports, but rather seeks to shut down CleanFlicks for good."

His most recent film, featuring flayings and floggings and with dialogue in Aramaic and Latin, was a worldwide hit. Now Mel Gibson has announced his next project will be set against the bloodthirsty backdrop of the Mayan empire - this time in an ancient dialect called Yucatec. Gibson's The Passion of the Christ last year became the most successful independent film ever made, grossing more than £200 million worldwide. It was also a hit in America's bible belt, which has long felt ignored by Hollywood. The star claims that his new thriller, Apocalypto, will champion another neglected cause, the millions...

Here is how Christians can change Hollywood, according to Jonathan Bock: "Go to more movies." As a publicist, the founder of Grace Hill Media, Mr. Bock might be biased, but here is his reasoning, as explained in the book Behind the Screen: Hollywood Insiders on Faith, Film, and Culture (Baker): "If Christians would go as a demographic bloc to a movie on opening weekend, we could make that movie a hit. And the studios would make more films just like it." The movie industry has been in the economic doldrums, with declining ticket sales and a smaller demographic slice going...

The man who brought religion to the big screen with The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson, is jumping back into the fray with his first-ever book endorsement, we hear. Friends say he's promoting the new book The Right to Be Wrong: Ending the Culture War Over Religion in America. The basic premise: When it comes to dealing with religion in public, you don't have to be right. In an E-mail provided to Whispers from the Becket Fund, a religious liberties legal group, Gibson says, "Making The Passion of the Christ taught me many things. One was just how scared...

LOS ANGELES -- At some of the largest and most influential Christian churches in the country, the lights dim and congregants watch a sneak preview of a new movie -- about golf. The Walt Disney Co. is marketing "The Greatest Game Ever Played" to faith-based groups even though the film, about Francis Ouimet's improbable win in the 1913 U.S. Open, isn't overtly religious.

Hollywood Marketing Films Through Churches By GARY GENTILE LOS ANGELES (AP) - At some of the largest and most influential Christian churches in the country, the lights dim and congregants watch a sneak preview of a new movie - about golf. The Walt Disney Co. is marketing "The Greatest Game Ever Played" to faith-based groups even though the film, about Francis Ouimet's improbable win in the 1913 U.S. Open, isn't overtly religious. "Its themes are about family, about not giving up on your dreams, courage," said Dennis Rice, head of publicity at the Walt Disney Studios. "They are very secular...

<p>In one of the last scenes of Mel Gibson's controversial new film "The Passion of the Christ," a muscular Jesus, his body battered but curiously unbowed by the prolonged torture of the last hours of his life, rises from the tomb with a stern look on his face, turns and marches off into the sunset. Jesus is portrayed as an action hero in this film by this well-known Hollywood actor and filmmaker.</p>

DUSSELDORF, August 22, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Jim Caviezel, who portrayed Jesus in Mel Gibson's blockbuster "The Passion of the Christ," presented the film to thousands of youth delegates at World Youth Day in Germany. The screening, which also included prayer and sharing was held at UTL Arena, an outdoor stadium in Dusseldorf, one of the three German cities hosting World Youth Day. The event was sponsored by Holy Cross Family Ministries (HCFM), Easton, Massachusetts. Kerri Caviezel, Jim's wife, gave a short testimony and introduced her husband. Jim Caviezel, a committed Catholic, addressed the youth and introduced "The Passion of the...

DUSSELDORF, Germany -- Jim Caviezel, who portrayed Jesus in Mel Gibson's blockbuster "The Passion of the Christ," presented the film yesterday to 25,000 youth delegates at 2005 World Youth Day. He also addressed the youth and led them in a decade of the rosary. The event was held at the UTL Arena, an outdoor stadium in Dusseldorf, one of the three German cities hosting World Youth Day activities, last Tuesday through tomorrow. . The others are Cologne and Bonn. The activity was sponsored by Holy Cross Family Ministries of Easton, Mass., which is composed of ministries furthering the mission of...

Gibson When production chiefs from selected studios trooped to Icon Prods. headquarters after an invite to read the film Mel Gibson planned for summer 2006, they were surprised at the very first page of the script. "The dialogue you are about to read will not be spoken in English." Gibson, who last made the most successful Aramaic-language film ever, is at it again. "Apocalypto" hardly fits the traditional definition of a summer film. Set 500 years ago, pic will be filmed in an obscure Mayan dialect, presumably with the same kind of subtitles Gibson reluctantly added to "The Passion...

Hollywood has found a new marketing tool &#65533; Jesus Christ. Following the tremendous success of Mel Gibson&#65533;s "Passion of the Christ&#65533; &#65533; which took in $370 million at the domestic box office &#65533; mainstream Hollywood is adjusting to what it perceives to be a rising religiosity in America. Directors, studio executives and marketing experts have been seeking to entice an audience that made its power felt with "Passion,&#65533; according to a report in the International Herald Tribune. "Mel Gibson did us a service,&#65533; said Bob Waliszewski, a media specialist with Focus on the Family, an evangelical group. "The Hollywood elites&#65533;...

Hi All and Merry Christmas! Here is a billboard I took a photo of in the Ebisu subway station. There are three files below -- one is the entire billboard, the others are just zoomed-in shots of each side. It appears that some advertising company was asked by a Tokyo distributor to do a special ad for Christmas for the Passion of the Christ DVD. Apparently nobody who was actually Christian got to review the ad before it was posted for thousands of people to see on their way home for Christmas Eve. - JJ

Nearly two years after it was labeled anti-Semitic (before it even came out), The Passion of the Christ might actually be converting Jews to Jesus. Take rapper 50 Shekel, who found notoriety with “In Da Shul,” a moderately clever parody of a 50 Cent hip-hop track (the Washington Post featured Shekel in a piece about being “Young, Jewish and . . . Cool”). He recently announced that he has found Jesus—inspired by the movie, which he calls “the most Jewish film ever made. They were calling Jesus ‘Yeshua’ . . . After seeing Mary sing ‘Ma nish-ta nah,’ I was...

ROME, JULY 4, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The composer of the soundtrack for film "The Passion of the Christ" has extended his original work into a symphony. John Debney will conduct a world premiere of the symphony in Rome this Wednesday. He arrived here Friday for rehearsals. Beforehand, he gave ZENIT more insight into his work. Q: Could you please give us a glimpse of what we're expecting here in Rome? Is there a difference between the symphony and the soundtrack? Debney: Yes. Certainly, this whole idea started when I was composing music for the film with Mel Gibson and I thought...

Fandango, the nation's largest online and phone movie ticketing service, is already reporting that Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith is slated to be the top selling title in the company's five year history.The film is positioned to dethrone the former ticketed champ, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.SITH has seen a 75% week over week continious increase in ticket sales. An astounding 80% of US film fans responding to a Fandango poll said they planned to see SITH the opening weekend.SITH has accounted for 79% of Fandango's weekly ticket sails. Moviegoer anticiapation is so high that...

Kochi (AsiaNews) – A gaggle of Hindu fundamentalists assaulted Christians who were watching a screening of The Passion of the Christ inside the Kanai Church, the oldest church in the state of Kerala (south-western India). One Christian was seriously wounded and scores of others were beaten and injured, including women and children. The incident occurred on Easter Eve in Chalakud Taluna when 25 militants from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)—the paramilitary wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)—disrupted the viewing of Mel Gibson’s movie and started attacking the spectators, one of whom George Kutty, was seriously hurt. Kanai Church members...

The other day, the guy on my local radio station mentioned that The Passion of The Christ was the Number One movie in America. ‘So congrats to Mel Gibson,’ he said. ‘And it’ll probably hold on to the Number One slot until the new Starsky & Hutch opens.’ It’s always useful to keep things in proportion. But, in fact, Starsky & Hutch opened and The Passion cleaned its clock. Last weekend, it took in $51.4 million, as against S&H’s $29.05 million. By then, The Passion’s total gross was up around $212 million. Pace my radio guy, mid-Seventies nostalgia is no...

GOOD FRIDAYMarch 25, 2005vol 16, no. 84 Five Days of Sorrow: Fifth Sorrowful Mystery Reflections for Good Friday: The Crucifixion and Death of Our Lord "We can only respond to this mystery by entering into eternal adoration and worship, along with all of the angels and saints! Certainly, this will be our lot in Heaven, but observe how the Father intends for us to share first in the Cross of Christ, as we have seen in the preceding mysteries. The glory which Our Lord has, He has because He intends to share it with us, His children; yet, we...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/4382321.stm The Link to the website with all the pictures...very interesting.

HOLY THURSDAYMarch 24, 2005vol 16, no. 83 Five Days of Sorrow: Fourth Sorrowful Mystery Reflections for Maundy Thursday: The Carrying of the Cross "We need such saints now more than ever! Just as surely as Our Lord's body fell under the weight of the cross, so His Mystical Body, the Church, also trembles under the weight of Her own Passion in our age of crisis. Take up that cross, on behalf of Mother Church, and like Simon of Cyrene, rejoice that you are called to assist in the salvation of the world."    And bearing His Own cross, He...

Newmarket Films, distributor of "The Passion Recut" — that's the toned-down, unrated version of Mel Gibson's bloody, anti-Semitic diatribe — obviously didn't think the whole country wanted to see this thing again. The 290 theatres it chose for the new version's release were not in Maine, Vermont or the city of Detroit. Only one theater in Manhattan got the film. The places that did get "The Passion Recut" didn't really want it anyway. The movie took in about $40,000 total, meaning about four people were at each show. It's likely that many shows, however, were empty, except for the projectionist....

'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...

Tarantino moves on to non-gratuitous violence Staff and agencies Tuesday March 15, 2005 Quentin Tarantino is to exchange the world of yellow jumpsuits and shiny swords for one of muddy khakis and greasy rifles. The Kill Bill director's new film, which has the projected title of Inglorious Bastards, is to be about a platoon of second world war soldiers trapped behind enemy lines. "I've been kicking back and now I'm getting ready to start working again," Tarantino, who has just started working on the film's script, told the Sun. The director - who was in London picking up an Icon...

Print this page Close by Fr. John Bartunek, LC Other Articles by Fr. John Bartunek, LC Inside Mel Gibson’s Passion 03/11/05 Last year I had the most meaningful Lent of my life, for two reasons. One, because it was my first Lent as a priest — I was ordained in Rome, on Christmas Eve, 2003. Two, because I had spent much of the previous twelve months, off and on, with Mel Gibson and the cast and crew of The Passion of The Christ — an experience that ended up giving rise to the book Inside the Passion. In This Article... A...

Will a recut Passion still stir debate? Film rereleased minus 6 minutes of worst gore Last year's success of The Passion of the Christ foretold the red state-blue state electoral vote divide as the nation's culture wars played out at the box office. Many movie goers described it as a sacred experience, but to others it was nothing more than a graceless horror flick. So it should come as no surprise that today's rerelease — now billed as The Passion Recut, minus about six minutes of the goriest scenes but still too intense to qualify for a PG-13 rating —...

Madrid, Mar. 09, 2005 (CNA) - The Archdiocese of Madrid’s publication “Alpha and Omega” publised an article in its latest edition on the testimony of the actor who played Barrabas in Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” who says he experienced a profound conversion while making the movie.Pedro Sarubbi, in an interview with the Italian daily Avvenire, said he had wanted to play St. Peter but Gibson “had already chosen the actors based on their resemblance to the different characters as portrayed in the paintings of Caravaggio and other masters.”  “As Barrabas, Gibson told me to avoid looking at...