Theater Credits 'Passion' Money to Movie Starring Bush Hater

NewsMax ^ | 3/19/04 | Limbacher

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Although "The Passion of the Christ" is one of the most popular movies of all time, with box office of more than $285 million so far, a TV news station in Miami wonders "should that dollar figure even be higher ... yes."

Here's the scoop, as reported today by WSVN-TV:

Frances Cannon "is upset because she says Gibson's movie isn't getting all the credit or cash it deserves."

A deeply religious woman, she and her family paid to see the movie but noticed their six tickets were marked "Hidalgo," not "The Passion of the Christ."

(The unpopular "Hidalgo," by the way, just so happens to star Bush-hating appeasement activist Viggo Mortensen.)

Whe Mrs. Cannon noticed the mistake and asked the cashier to fix it, the manager intervened. "He told me that they have already sold enough tickets and these six credits wouldn't matter anyway ... he's [Gibson] made enough money anyway."

She contacted Seven News after the manager again refused to give proper credit to "The Passion."

'Theft'

The station's legal expert, Howard Finkelstein, said: "This is clearly a breach of contract ... when someone makes a movie they get money based upon ticket sales ... in this case the money that Mel Gibson's movie should have gotten went to another movie ... if this was done intentionally it's theft."

The station says a corporate official of the chain, which it did not identify, admitted the manager was wrong, should have corrected the error and would correct it.

WSVN reports: "The theater wanted to know why Frances was so concerned about this. Bottom line ... she didn't want to get anyone in trouble ... she just wanted to make sure that Mel Gibson's movie got the money she paid ... We contacted Mel Gibson's people ... they are aware of the situation."

The reader who sent us this tip wonders, "Is this kind of theft of Mel Gibson going on in other parts of the country?"

Movie fans, check your ticket stubs, and raise hell if your money is incorrectly going to Viggo or the other pampered leftists of Tinseltown.

[hellinahandcart]

"The Passion of Chris."

ROFL

[TheDon]

(The unpopular "Hidalgo," by the way, just so happens to star Bush-hating appeasement activist Viggo Mortensen.)

I didn't see this line, I didn't see this line, I didn't see this line. I plan on seeing Hidalgo, after I see the Passion one more time on the big screen.

[TheBattman]

That's right, let's stoop to the gutter ethics of the left. Fine Christian behavior!

[nutmeg]

I still have my ticket stub from 2/29/04 (Showcase, E. Windsor, CT). Says: "Passion of C"

[mitchbert]

The only diff I could think is if the theatre gets a different percentage from different movies instead of the same cut from all. If the former's the case, this could get interesting....

Different films come with different deals from the distributor, usually determined by the expected popularity of the film. In the case of a film like "The Passion" which is expected to be strong out of the gate and have a relatively long and consistent run, the theatre pays a larger percentage of ticket sales back to the distributor for a longer period of time. The theater makes virtually all its money at the extortion (concession) stand. As sales are expected to drop off the theatre gets a larger percentage of the gate as an incentive to keep it running. For a film not expected to do especially well, or one nearing the end of it's run, the theater makes more, plus of course whatever they can mug you for at the concession stand.

By tabulating the sales against another film than The Passion, the theater keeps the gate receipt rather than having it go to Gibson.

[nutmeg]

ping!

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.

[mitchbert]

No, the theater gets a larger percentage of the gate on the other film...they may be getting nothing from The Passion other than concession sales. The longer a film runs the higher the percentage of the gate the theater keeps. Relatively unpopular films return more to the theater as well as an incentive to keep them running.

[general_re]

Ah. Well, I figured greed - rather than outright anti-Christian animus - was the major motivating factor somehow, so it's nice to know that my cynical tendencies are still serving me well ;)

[Eala]

(The unpopular "Hidalgo," by the way, just so happens to star Bush-hating appeasement activist Viggo Mortensen.)

We were planning on seeing "Hidalgo" until Viggo opened his mouth and added another element to our calculation. Given the poor reviews, I'm glad he did.

[Rocky]

Thanks for the clarification. I always check the tickets to make sure they have the right movie name on them, but not for this reason. I don't recall ever getting tickets to the wrong movie, but I just like to make sure while I am still at the window that there hasn't been a mistake. But I can believe that what you have described does happen.

So maybe it was for commercial reasons, although unethical. I thought perhaps it was one theater manager's personal protest against "The Passion".

I am surprised that I haven't heard about this practice before. It would seem like movie producers or marketers would be taking theater chains to court over this practice.

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

This happens all the time. Check out the fury on www.theonering.net when it was discovered that Fellowship of the Ring was being ticketed wrong, or www.theforce.net when Phanton Menace was ticketed wrong. Could it have been someone with an ax to grind? Sure. But this isn't a widespread conspiracy or an unknown occurance. It happens.

[dansangel]

A "stoops to the lowest denominator" ping.

mhking: Just Damn?

[Freedom2specul8]

Thanks for the info! We saved our ticket stubs...they are fine. I hope this isn't a common practice!!

[Valin]

I'd like to take this opportunity to say something nice about Viggo...










He hardly ever beats his dog.

[mewzilla]

By tabulating the sales against another film than The Passion, the theater keeps the gate receipt rather than having it go to Gibson.

I'll bet this wasn't some little oopsie then. This really could get interesting.

[ArrogantBustard]

What I find amazing is the number of people on this very thread who profess to never check their tickets. Maybe I'm just 'anal', but I always check my movie tickets for correct show and time. I don't want to pay for the latest shoot-em-up, then get a ticket for (and risk having to watch) the chick-flick in the next auditorium.

[NYer]

How low can someone sink! Gibson took a financial risk when he personally funded this film. He deserves to reap the rewards - all of them!

Catholic Ping - let me know if you want on/off this list

[netmilsmom]

Please see my post 14.
I am almost positive this was not intentional. This movie was more of a money maker than anyone thought. It was moved to many extra screens. We need to check our tickets and collectively get to the managers of the theatres.

[mhking]

Just damn.

If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[T.Smith]

LOL! Thanks, DansAngel, I was already on this thread when you pinged me. Great minds?