Mel Gibson, director of The Passion of the Christ, had difficulty finding someone to release his graphic telling of the last hours of Christ's life. Major studios were wary because some religious leaders feared it would foster anti-Semitism.
But whether filmgoers showed up at theaters to be inspired or appalled, they showed up -- and Passion, under independent distributor Newmarket Films, has made more than US$366 million in the last 10 weeks.
CENSORSHIP
Meanwhile, Senator Frank Lautenberg has asked the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation for a hearing on what he called a "disturbing pattern of politically based corporate censorship of the news media and the entertainment industry."
Lautenberg argued on Wednesday in a letter to his committee chairman, Senator John McCain, that Disney (through Miramax) has the violent Kill Bill Vol. 2 in theaters now, but is blocking Moore's film based on its political viewpoint.
In the movie, Moore interviewed author Craig Unger about his book House of Bush, House of Saud, which details the Bush-Saudi relationship.
"I found about US$1.4 billion in investments and contracts going from the House of Saud to companies in which the Bushes and their allies -- I'm including Dick Cheney, for example -- have had prominent positions," Unger said.
The book and the film also say the government helped 140 Saudis leave the US on Sept. 13, 2001 -- two dozen of whom were bin Laden's relatives.
While he hadn't seen the film, Unger said, "There's clearly a big audience for this and I think the intent to kill it will fail."
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