The divine forces were with Mel Gibson far more significantly than the early box-office assessment for his film, The Passion Of The Christ suggested, as its $26.6 million single-day gross stunned the industry.
But it wasn't all great news for Gibson: a news report says that the film 'may harm Gibson's career.'
Hollywood's Jewish executives were unhappy with the film's alleged portrayal of all Jews responsible for the death of Christ, The New York Times reported. Many of them may not work with Gibson again, the report said. Hollywood had not only refused to fund the film, it also declined to distribute it.
While many box-office trackers thought the film had grossed $15 million on its opening day on Wednesday, it actually grossed $20 million. The film, which was released in about 3,000 theatres (and over 4,000 screens) by independent distributor Newmarket Films, has grossed nearly $266 million including previews, Newmarket officials said.
Trade publication Hollywood Reporter said the box-office performance was a miracle. In London. BBC suggested many people were more interested in the film than the Oscars.
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'The Oscars ceremony is looming on Sunday,' the report said, 'but the US appears to be far more interested in Mel Gibson's controversial film.'
Newmarket officials reportedly said that the film's huge opening shows there is a vast, underserved audience for a film like this, a religious film.
The ultra-violent but hauntingly photographed film depicts the last 12 hours of Jesus' life. Gibson, one of the highest paid stars in Hollywood ($20 million plus box-office percentage), does not appear in the film.
In Braveheart, for which he won an Oscar for direction, he played the lead. In the new film, Jim Caviezel, a lesser known actor, plays Christ.
The Gibson movie ranks as the fifth-biggest Wednesday opening of all time, if the preview grosses are added, box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations claimed. The record, $34.4 million, is held by The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. In any event, the business The Passion is doing is remarkable given that -- it has an R-rating, many leading critics have panned it and that it is presented in Hebrew, Latin and Aramaic, with English subtitles.
Many Jewish leaders have criticised The Passion for it could whip up anti-Semitism by depicting Jews as collectively responsible for Jesus' crucifixion.
The Times said many Hollywood executives were more upset that Gibson did not challenge or criticise his father Hutton Gibson's recent assertion that all of Holocaust in which six million Jews were killed, 'may not be all fiction -- but most of it.'
Hollywood insiders may also recall that Arnold Schwarzenegger's father had served the Nazis. But Schwarzenegger was forgiven because he had condemned the Holocaust and the Nazis. Besides, he did not make anything like The Passion Of The Christ.
Yet some Hollywood insiders say that the so-called boycott of Mel Gibson would not be effective. Gibson would be able to raise his own money, make his films and release them through independent distributors. And in some way, Hollywood would be still be connected. Even now the soundtrack of The Passion is released by Sony and half a dozen Hollywood films have their 'previews' (trailers) attached to the Gibson film.
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