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.

[saradippity]

Sometimes things get so frustrating that one wants to retaliate by using the same means the "enemy" uses, but that would mean that the ends justify the means and that is never true.

I believe that when Jesus said "The Truth will set you free",He was speaking Truth. To lie or act with duplicity will never lead to anything but confusion and bondage,and we know who is pleased with that.

We can modify or temper the way we express the Truth but we need to always remember to seek Truth,speak Truth and do Truth,that is the Way to our Triune God.

[dansangel]

I was already on this thread when you pinged me. Great minds?

Guess I had tunnel vision. :-)

Now, I'll go back and read through....

((((T.Smith))))

[mitchbert]

I'll bet this wasn't some little oopsie then.

You can bet it's deliberate. Think about it. Theaters have ushers, and in a multiplex there is often an usher near the entrance to each auditorium that checks your ticket to make sure you're going into the right one. The way you run the conspiracy is simple. The usher sees the ticket is for another movie but the customer is clearly confident they're going to see the movie not on their ticket. The usher simply looks at you and casually says "The Passion? This way." If you actually did mean to see the other film and just took a wrong team you say "No, I wanted to see..." at which point the usher double checks your ticket and spots his "error" and points you to the correct place. You never suspect anything.

[hosepipe]

Reminds me of the Democrat dirty tricks thread... Wonder what other stuff is being done,, LIKE THIS... that has'nt been noted or noticed yet..

[dsc]

"Do you look at the money when they give you change?"

I only check to see if there are about the right number of tens and twenties. If it's change for a five, I don't look at it at all.

It's a stress management thing. Life's just too short to sweat the small change.

Never looked at a ticket stub, either.

[mewzilla]

I was thinking about the ushers too, actually. They check religiously around here, pardon the pun, to make sure that bargain tickets aren't being used when they're not supposed to. A glitch would be noticed real quick.

[Alberta's Child]

As a number of people have posted here on this thread, this kind of thing is bound to happen whenever you have business arrangements in which the producer of a product or service doesn't deal directly with the buyer. For the life of me, I never understood how the movie industry could possibly keep track of the financial arrangements between the producers, distributors, and movie theater operators.

[Some hope remaining.]

I was not a mistake!

That's always good to know. I admit, our oldest child came along earlier than we had planned but I'd never call him a mistake either. ;)

[Siobhan]

I always check my ticket. But for those who say they don't, this is their wake up call -- unless of course they do not mind being manipulated by the left-wing evil Hollyweird purveyors of putrescence.

[txjeep]

Dangit! Now Viggo has to go on my list with Spacey, Clooney, Harris, and all those other leftist Hollywood actors. I really wish these actors would keep their opinions to themselves so I can enjoy a good movie without having to remember their mindless political rantings whenever they appear in one. Laura Ingraham said it best, "Shut Up and Sing" (or "Act" in this case).

[PeoplesRep_of_LA]

This happens to every movie at some theater or another during a run. It never becomes an issue or even noticed unless one of the films have a political base that is touchy.

Really? Based on what? My friend worked at a movie theatre for over 5 years, and I have never once heard of this happening. What's more, he had to bend over backwards to make customers happy.

This manager not only was in the wrong, but openly refused to correct the mistake because he thought Gibson had made enough money? Such bad customer service is very very "odd" While I would say that its not a conspiracy that goes beyond that local theatre, I think it is likely that this manager knew beforehand that this tickets where going to Hildalgo.

[PeoplesRep_of_LA]

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.

You mean you didn't know? I can't find the "no blood for oil" shirt he had on after The Fellowship, but Oh baby, this picture won't help.

[wingster]

"Shut up and act" Indeed!

Ironic, isn't it? Actors/actresses, shun school (usually) and slog thru society waiting/bussing tables or doing other menial work, which isn't unnoble, but they do it while they practice at "pretending" which is all that acting is. Then when they become good enough at "pretending", they get their big break, they "pretend"/act for a living getting paid by those desirous of seeing them "pretend" and "play make-believe!"

Then once they're 'big', all of a sudden they are experts on government, the economy, and a host of other socio-political issues. The real oddity is the masses lined up behind them just like sheep. Bahhhh, ....bahhhhh,...

[wingster]

What that lady should have done is said, "then you won't mind if I go see the other movie when I'm done watching Passion then, right?

I'm sure that type of dishonesty wouldn't have been tolerated by the theater. LOL

[Lawdoc]

The evil side of me says that you should buy a "Passion" ticket and then sneak into "Hidalgo" if you decide to go :)

[PeoplesRep_of_LA]

The evil side of me says that you should buy a "Passion" ticket and then sneak into "Hidalgo" if you decide to go :)

Yeah that would be the evil side talking, why would anybody want to see the piece of tripe based on a pathological liar that made up the entire horse race. ;-)

[twigs]

I liked Hildago too, although I saw it trashed here on another thread.

[Montfort]

"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.""

I think it is pretty clear that if this is done intentionally, it is definitely theft, not simply breach of contract.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

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.

Trouble is, The Passion is a blockbuster which was not "expected to be strong out of the gate" - remember, Gibson had to sweat getting it distributed at all. Not sure exactly how that shakes out; sounds more like if there is a problem it's a matter of the theater going against its own interest in order to go with the politics of the movie industry generally. And to cheat Gibson.

[mitchbert]

remember, Gibson had to sweat getting it distributed at all.

Very true, but I suspect that as the controversy built before the release it became pretty clear they had something big on their hands. As an indicator, it opened on a huge number of screens, not something I'd expect for a film distributors felt was destined to tank. OTOH, if the theater was simply doing it for ideological reasons, they're idiots for going against they're own interests. Knowing some folks in the business and the profit margins theaters often live on, I kind suspect my original line of thought to be more likely, but who knows?