http://www.imdb.com/StudioBrief/#3
Moviegoers Pack 'Passion' Theaters
Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ may have earned as much as $20 million in its first day of release, a record for a religious-themed movie, according to early estimates. In an interview with the Associated Press, Rob Schwartz, head of distribution for Newmarket Films, the independent distributor that Gibson hired to release the movie, forecast that the film would "at least" gross $100 million. "Then again, we have to see how the rest of the weekend plays out," Schwartz told AP. "Hopefully, if we continue the torrid pace we're starting to set now, that's an achievable number." Newmarket said that it had succeeded in planting the movie in 3,006 theaters, which are showing it on 4,643 screens, more than half again as many as originally forecast.
Two Studio Chairmen Wash Their Hands of Gibson
The chairmen of two major motion picture studios have told the New York Times that they will avoid working with Mel Gibson because of the contents of The Passion of the Christ and Gibson's remarks in promoting it -- particularly his refusal to distance himself from his father, who has denied the existence of the Holocaust. The Times said that neither studio head would speak for attribution, although, as one remarked: "It doesn't matter what I say. It'll matter what I do. I will do something. I won't hire him. I won't support anything he's part of. Personally that's all I can do." The Times also quoted an executive close to DreamWorks principals Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen as saying that the two men have privately expressed anger over the film. However, John Lesher, an Endeavor talent agent, told the newspaper that he doubted any backlash would be lasting. "People here will work with the anti-Christ if he'll put butts in seats," Lesher said. Meanwhile, the film continues to generate a mountain of news reports. The Google Internet search engine today listed 1,759 recent articles related to the movie.
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