[IronJack]

The premise of this article is that Hollywood scoffed at Gibson because they thought his project would be a failure. That is not the case. Hollywood was terrified of this project from the outset, not because it was destined to fail, but because it was destined to succeed.

The last thing the amoral film Establishment wants is a resurrection (pardon the pun) of Christian spirituality. After all, they've spent half a century trying to destroy it. That The Passion is succeeding as phenomenally as it is just confirms their worst fears.

[Moonmad27]

All along Mel said he felt guided by the holy spirit - to me, judging from this huge success in spite of all the odds, he was absolutely right. Every million that gets added to the total must irritate the powers-that-be in H'wood tremendously. Excellent!

[Cboldt]

Hollywood was terrified of this project from the outset, not because it was destined to fail, but because it was destined to succeed.

In my opinion, not so much out of fear, but of hubris. Hollywood believed it could stifle the message by stifling this messenger. Destined to succeed? Over Hollywood's not insubstantial efforts to abort it.