Mel Gibson's 'Christ' goes wide

Posted Monday, January 19, 2004 at 4:52 PM Central

by John Couture

Mel Gibson's new movie is finally getting a release and man, it's a big one. The Passion Of Christ is slated for a 2,000 screen debut on February 25th.

While at first glance this might not seem all too extraordinary given Mel's proven box office performance, but he's directing, not acting in this one. Also, did we mention that the film is completely in Latin and Aramaic without subtitles. Finally, the dividing religious theme is polarizing critics and religious leaders alike as Jewish groups claim that the movie will fuel a new wave of anti-Semitism.

So, given all that, Mel was unable to convince a major studio to pick it for distribution, so his film company, Icon Productions, is handling the release with independent film distributor Newmarket Films. Typically, films following this path are given small releases and ramp up to maybe 500 screens, so this is huge news as the controversy has piqued interest in the movie that depicts the last hours of Christ's life.