Determined to insulate his controversial "The Passion of Christ" and to personally control the movie's challenging marketing, director Mel Gibson has decided to distribute it through his company, Icon Entertainment, according to sources close to the film. The story of the last hours in Jesus Christ's life, "The Passion of Christ" will be released nationwide by Icon on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 25. Newmarket Films, which has distributed "Whale Rider" and "Memento," will assist Icon in shipping prints of the film and collecting money from theaters.