English Entertainment
‘The Passion Recut’ takes centrestage on Star Movies on 1 March
MUMBAI: A first from Star Movies as it airs The Passion Recut without any commercial breaks on Wednesday 1 March, a day when the Christian holy season of Lent begins, 40 days before Easter.
On that day Star Movies presents the Mel Gibson film The Passion Recut at 9 pm. In a break from convention the telecast will feature no commercials to ensure that audiences feel the complete authenticity of the subject with dialogues in Latin and Aramaic. There will be English and Hindi subtitles.
For the uninitiated this film depicts the final hours of Jesus Christ, starting from his prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane where Satan sends a serpent to his betrayal at the hands of Judas Iscariot. It goes on to show the trials he endured under Pontius Pilate who wanted to set him free and King Herod as well as the torture and ridicule he suffered in between.
Once the death sentence is pronounced, he carries a heavy wooden cross to Golgotha amidst throngs of jeering citizens and horrendous beatings, while a few citizens do what they can to help Him. Throughout this time, we are shown memories from his past with his mother and Disciples, where he gives his teachings. Finally, he is crucified, dies, and is buried, but resurrects from the dead three days later.
Interesting facts:
– When this Latin and Aramaic language film was announced, Mel Gibson stated that his intent was to release it without subtitles, letting the performances speak for themselves.
– However, subtitles were added later. Also, he stated that regardless of the cost of the project, that this would be “good for the soul”
– James Caviezel who plays Christ experienced a shoulder separation when the 150 pound cross, dropped on his shoulder.
– It took over 10 hours to put Caviezel into the scourged makeup
– Caviezel was given a prosthetic nose and a raised hairline. His blue eyes were digitally changed to brown on film
– Maia Morgenstern, who plays Mary (mother of Jesus), is only six years older than Caviezel
– The assistant director of the movie was hit by lightening during filming.
– Because of their experiences during film production, many of the cast and filming crew converted to Catholicism after the completion of the film. Among those who converted was an atheist who played Judas Iscariot.
Mel Gibson laid his money, his career and his reputation on the line in an attempt to fulfill a dream. There were plenty of sceptics who mocked him. But for every critic who mocked and every voice who spoke with fear and loathing, there were dozens more who accepted, embraced and adored this film. Its box office success may have forever changed the film industry, as we know it. But, more important than its box office figures, only the subject of this film knows how many lives were brought closer as a result of Mel Gibson’s labour of love.
English Entertainment
Ellison takes his Paramount-Warner Bros case straight to theater owners
The Skydance chief goes to CinemaCon with promises and a skeptical crowd waiting
CALIFORNIA: David Ellison strode into a room packed with thousands of cinema owners and executives at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Thursday and did something rather bold: he looked them in the eye and asked them to trust him.
The chief executive of Paramount Skydance vowed that his company would release a minimum of 30 films a year if regulators greenlight its proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, a deal that has made theater owners deeply, and loudly, nervous.
“I wanted to look every single one of you in the eye and give you my word,” Ellison told the crowd. “Once we combine with Warner Bros, we are going to make a minimum of 30 films annually across both studios.”
It was a confident pitch. Whether it landed is another matter. Cinema operators have already called on regulators to block the deal, and scepticism in the room was hardly concealed.
Ellison pushed back by pointing to recent form. Paramount, born from the merger of Paramount Global and Skydance Media last August, plans to release 15 films this year, nearly double the eight it put out in 2025. Progress, he argued, was already underway.
He also threw theater owners a bone they have long been chasing: all films, he pledged, would run exclusively in cinemas for a minimum of 45 days, drawing applause from a crowd that has spent years fighting for exactly that commitment across the industry.
“People can speculate all they want,” Ellison said, “but I am standing here today telling you personally that you can count on our complete commitment. And we’ll show you we mean it.”
Fine words. The regulators, however, will have the last one.
