just an article that i read in my local paper's online edition today (wilmington star news, wilmington, NC). thought i'd toss it out there for some lively debate. :)
"Passion" profits
What should Mel Gibson do with movie money?
By Amanda Greene
Staff Writer
[email protected] Saying that Mel Gibson is making a profit from The Passion of the Christ would be an understatement.
After spending $25 million of his own money to make the film, Mr. Gibson has seen The Passion gross $264 million in the United States and Canada in its first three weeks in theaters. Industry executives estimate the movie will top $300 million before it leaves North American theaters. And it's slated to open in the United Kingdom on Friday.
In addition to the ticket sales, Passion-related paraphernalia, including pendants shaped like the nails used in the Crucifixion, is flying off Christian bookstore shelves across the nation.
Before the film opened Mr. Gibson told ABC News' Diane Sawyer that he believes he was meant to make the movie and that the Holy Ghost approved of his effort. Which gives rise to the question: What might the Holy Ghost want him to do with the proceeds?
It's been rumored that Mr. Gibson plans to
funnel the Passion profits into another religious film, possibly about the Maccabees and the Hanukkah story.
But Mr. Gibson hasn't made any public decisions about giving proceeds to charity, said Melany Ethridge, publicist for The Passion with A. Larry Ross Communications.
Nor does he have to, said Scott Hobbs, youth pastor at Maranatha Christian Fellowship.
"What Mr. Gibson does with his money is between him and the Lord," Mr. Hobbs said. "I think that's something he would have to pray about."
The Rev. Mike Queen, pastor at First Baptist Church of Wilmington, said Mr. Gibson shouldn't be held to a different standard than other Hollywood directors, just because he made a religious movie.
"My personal beliefs are that every person of faith has some obligation to support the mission and ministry of their church, and you hope there's some giving back but he's a business man who made a blockbuster movie," he said. "The idea that he made money on a movie that had a faith story . . . doesn't make him a bad person necessarily. But he took a risk; $25 million of his own money isn't pocket change."
Some religious scholars believe sharing the wealth is part of his moral responsibility as a man of faith.
"From a religious standpoint, if he does well he should give some back," said Darrell Bock, research professor of New Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. "From a business standpoint, people who do the work reap the rewards. The sense that I got was that he wasn't doing it for the money."
Ron Simkins, director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at Creighton University in Omaha N.E., Mel Gibson "should try to make money off his work, and is doing so quite well."
"The problem comes, of course, with how Gibson has pitched his movie by targeting churches in particular. This is where the targeted audiences should wake up and notice that they are being exploited and for Gibson's gain," he said in an e-mail interview. "The targeting of evangelical churches is especially ironic given Gibson's sectarian Catholic theology, which claims that those outside his traditional church are not saved. In other words, Gibson's marketing of his movie has undermined the religious motives he professes to have."
Some of the money coming from the film may be going to charity.
Bob Seimon Designs, the Southern California company now distributing official Passion memorabilia nationwide, is looking into donating some of the proceeds from its products to charity. The group is distributing thousands of special Passion movie crucifixes, pewter nail necklaces with Isaiah 53:5 inscribed on them and witness cards with movie photo on them, three scriptures and a prayer to help people inspired by the film's message to share it with his or her neighbor. To date, the company has distributed about 100,000 nail and crucifix necklaces and 1.5 million witness cards and lapel pins to stores and evangelical ministries nationwide.
In Wilmington, Salt Shaker Bookstore and Café, Cox Christian Book and Gift Store, Books-A-Million and Barnes & Noble Booksellers are just a few places you can find products promoting the movie.
The jewelry ranges from about $6.99 for a keychain to $16.99 for the nail pendant while the book generally sells for $24.99.
Dwight Robinson, marketing director for Bob Siemon Designs, said the company is looking for evangelical ministries to donate some of its Pass
ion proceeds to but hasn't made any decisions yet.
"We all feel really blessed to be a part of (this movie)," he said. "We want to give back to people using our products; people focused on getting the message behind the product conveyed."
