JUNE, 9.-MEL GIBSON GROUP SUES OVER 'PASSION'
LOS ANGELES -- Mel Gibson's film-distribution outfit is suing Regal Entertainment Group for $40 million or more, claiming the movie chain shortchanged the company on revenues from The Passion of the Christ.
Regal, the largest U.S. movie chain, agreed to pay Gibson's Icon Distribution 55 per cent of receipts but reneged in May and offered only 34 per cent, George Hedges, an attorney for Icon, said Tuesday.
Icon filed the lawsuit Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court, saying Regal owed the company "in excess" of $40 million.
An executive at Regal Entertainment -- formed in 2001 by Colorado billionaire Philip Anschutz from debt-loaded chains Regal Cinemas, United Artists Theater and Edwards Theatres -- would not discuss the lawsuit.
"We do not comment on our business practices with the studios," said Regal spokesman Dick Westerling.
The Passion of the Christ is No. 7 on the all-time domestic box-office charts after taking in $369.9 million.
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14 June 2004.-BYE BYE'FURY ROAD'
Mad Max: Fury Road , which was to have returned Mel Gibson to the role he made famous in three Australian-filmed action flicks in the late '70s and early '80s, has been scrapped, published reports in Australia said Sunday. Although hundreds of thousands of dollars had already been spent on development of the film, work was halted last week reportedly because of logistical difficulties. Originally set to film last July in Namibia, the production was postponed because of security concerns. Oddly, Namibia, which is mostly Christian and is located in southern Africa, is not regarded as a terrorist target, and no security advisories have been issued for the country. Principal filming had been scheduled for the Kalahari desert, which is sparsely populated. Director George Miller said Sunday that filming could not take place elsewhere because the Kalahari uniquely offers a hard surface for the vehicles that were to be used in the movie. Elsewhere, they would have bogged down, he said.
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16 JUNE 2004.-"THE PASSION" NUMBER ONE.
The top-grossing film worldwide during the first six months of 2004 was Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ with a gross of $608.5 million.
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21 JUNE 2004.- MEL GIBSON IS THE KING!
Mel Gibson has been named the world's most powerful celebrity - outclassing last year's winner Jennifer Aniston.
The 'Passion of the Christ' director topped Forbes magazine Celebrity 100 with a pay packet of $210 million and more international press coverage than any other star.
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23 JUNE 2004.- AT LAST, LITTLE GIBSONS WILL BE ABLE TO VISIT EURO DISNEY
Accepting the company's first Gold Reel ever, Icon Entertainment U.K. group CEO Nick Hill name-checked A Film chief San Fu Maltha, the movie's Dutch distributor, before introducing a taped message from director Mel Gibson. Gibson joked that thanks to the audiences' efforts and the film's overseas boxoffice success, he can now afford "to take my kids to Euro Disney." He also praised the tapestry of indie distributors that pushed the movie out, including Quinta Communications in France and Eagle Pictures in Italy.
MARVELLOUS!. Please, visit the Caribbean Pirates
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15 JULY 2004.- GIBSON AND FILM STUDIOS. A BOYCOTT???
Despite Mel Gibson's great success as the producer-director of The Passion of the Christ, film studios have shown a reluctance to deal with him, and none has shown interest in starring him in a movie. The New York Times, citing an unnamed senior Sony executive, reported that Sony Films Chairman Amy Pascal turned Gibson's agents down when they proposed him for the lead in a remake of "All the King's Men". Another unnamed studio, citing the same issue, told the newspaper that he would strenuously resist casting Gibson. He added, however, "He'll find a movie. Nobody's going to blacklist him."
An unfair boycott, we think.
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15 JULY 2004.- GIBSON DIRECTS AGAIN
Gibson has directed the first episode of "Savages", a TV program about a single father raising five sons. currently in development for American television network ABC. The show is starred by David Carradine and produced by Icon Productions. It is said that the story is loosely based on Gibsonīs own life.
GOOD LUCK!
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27 AUGUST 2004.- STARS SIGN CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENTS FOR STALLONE'S SHOW
Mel Gibson , William Shatner and James Caan are among a host of stars who have had to sign confidentiality agreements after viewing tapings of Sylvester Stallone 's new boxing reality show. The Contender, in which 16 fighters compete for a $1 million prize with mentoring from Stallone and boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard , is due to debut in November. And those who attended the first three segments of the 15-episode show in a 300-seat arena in Los Angeles - including Mr T , Elliot Gould and Tony Danza - have had to sign agreements not to disclose the outcome of any of the bouts. Bosses of the NBC show are currently locked in a bitter battle with rival Fox show The Next Great Champ to stop block its September debut.
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28 AUGUST 2004.- FOX HOME VIDEO AND 'THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST'.
Twentieth Century Fox, which was originally among the studios that rejected a deal to distribute Mel Gibson 's The Passion of the Christ, has launched a massive marketing campaign for the DVD release, targeting Christian households and churches, the New York Times reported last Thursday. The newspaper observed that the studio has been urging pastors at some 260,000 churches to buy copies of the movie in bulk.. Moreover, the studio has sent email messages promoting the film to more than six million Christian families, the Times said. The newspaper commented that the tactic amounts to "rewriting the rules of movie marketing -- bypassing the Hollywood sales machinery in favor of direct appeals to churchgoing Christians.
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4 SEPTEMBER 2004.-'THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST' NEW RECORD
First-day sales of Mel Gibson 's The Passion of the Christ set a record for an R-rated movie as more than 4.1 million DVD copies flew off the shelves, Many of the DVDs were ordered well in advance by church groups who were able to purchase them at significant discounts.
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