Not afraid of the controversy that has bugged Mel Gibson-directed The Passion Of The Christ, and that it had dialogue in Latin and Aramaic, a small distributor is taking the big risk of releasing it in over 2,000 screens on February 25.

The film, which covers the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus Christ, has received an R-rating for its scenes of graphic violence.

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New Market Films, whose biggest success so far is Whale Rider that grossed $20 million in mostly arthouse theatres, announced this week that it is giving a wide release to the Gibson film that had gone without a distributor for many months. Part of the reason for such a big step would be that Gibson's own company Icon is also a partner in the distribution.

Whale Rider, which began its run on a handful of screens, never played in over 580 screens.

The Gibson film controversy fuelled by complaints by some Jewish groups, though, has not reached the shrillness of the complaints Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation Of Christ braved over a decade ago. Many Christians, who complained the film was blasphemous because it showed the human side of Christ, picketed the movie houses. It opened to a strong box-office, but soon, the curiosity peaked out and the movie ended with a paltry $20 million worldwide.

Mel Gibson, one of Hollywood's most bankable stars, gets over $20 million per film. He does not appear in The Passion Of The Christ. In fact, the film has not one single artiste with a high box-office profile. James Caviezel, who has starred in medium-range successes such as High Crimes, plays Christ. Hollywood rarely makes biblical films, even though classics such as The Ten Commandments draw a big number of television viewers. 

A devout, conservative Catholic, Gibson made the film for a reported $25 million, one-third of what his previous directorial vehicle, the Oscar-winning Braveheart, had cost him.

His new film, which has been battling the charges that it places the blame for the crucifixion of Jesus on the Jews, was shunned by Hollywood's major studios. Many Christian organisations and leaders, including Pope John Paul have refuted the anti-Jewish complaints.

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