Friday, April 4, 2008
Member since:
March 2002
March 2002
from imdb.com:
"Mel Gibson has appealed to a Los Angeles judge to grant a privacy motion in his legal battle with the co-screenwriter of The Passion Of The Christ, in a bid to keep financial records about the 2004 film secret. Benedict Fitzgerald is suing Gibson, who directed the controversial religious epic, over accusations he cheated the screenwriter out of millions of dollars in potential earnings. He claims Gibson engaged in a "chronic and conspiratorial pattern of deceit" by telling him he was working on a project with a budget of between $4 million and $7 million. Fitzgerald alleges he was only paid $75,000 and that he had to borrow $200,000 from Gibson to cover expenses. The Passion Of The Christ went on to gross an estimated $600 million worldwide. In a court motion filed on Tuesday, lawyers working for Gibson and his Icon Productions company, which is also named as a defendant, are seeking to seal the movie's financial information, and only allow Fitzgerald's attorneys access to them. Gibson's appeal comes just days after he filed papers asking a judge to dismiss the fraud allegations filed against him by Fitzgerald. The two parties are due to meet in court for a hearing on June 20."
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gibson might've charged fitzgerald usury, too. (N)
"Mel Gibson has appealed to a Los Angeles judge to grant a privacy motion in his legal battle with the co-screenwriter of The Passion Of The Christ, in a bid to keep financial records about the 2004 film secret. Benedict Fitzgerald is suing Gibson, who directed the controversial religious epic, over accusations he cheated the screenwriter out of millions of dollars in potential earnings. He claims Gibson engaged in a "chronic and conspiratorial pattern of deceit" by telling him he was working on a project with a budget of between $4 million and $7 million. Fitzgerald alleges he was only paid $75,000 and that he had to borrow $200,000 from Gibson to cover expenses. The Passion Of The Christ went on to gross an estimated $600 million worldwide. In a court motion filed on Tuesday, lawyers working for Gibson and his Icon Productions company, which is also named as a defendant, are seeking to seal the movie's financial information, and only allow Fitzgerald's attorneys access to them. Gibson's appeal comes just days after he filed papers asking a judge to dismiss the fraud allegations filed against him by Fitzgerald. The two parties are due to meet in court for a hearing on June 20."
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gibson might've charged fitzgerald usury, too. (N)
Friday, April 4, 2008
Member since:
February 2008
February 2008
What purpose does the title of this thread serve?
Friday, April 4, 2008
Member since:
June 2006
June 2006
Uh... well it's an interesting [and revealing] news report, about one the biggest actor/director stars in the world (and his character professionally), and about his obvious 'greed' [if report is valid] in the production of his blockbuster film about Jesus Christ. And I would think that Eddie is hinting that the film's 'Christ-like' theme (and "do unto others as you would have them do unto you"
, didn't seem to be of any concern with Mel, if the report is true about how he misled others in their salaries, based on the film's budget. While Mel reaped the finanacial rewards, apparently some of his staff made 'sacrifices' ($$).
Similar thing happened with the hit movie BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, where actor Randy Quaid sued the producers (later dropped in exchange for a bonus), saying they had misled him about the film's 'low-budget' status, and had convinced him to accept much less than his usual salary, even though the film had a decent production budget ($14 million + $5 million more in advertising), and was a 'hit' as well, over $178 million in worldwide grosses.
From Wikipedia... "Brokeback Mountain's theatrical run lasted for 133 days and grossed $83,043,761 in North America and $95,000,000 abroad, adding up to a worldwide gross of more than $178 million. It is the top-grossing release of Focus Features, ranks fifth among the highest-grossing westerns, and eighth among the highest-grossing romantic dramas (1980-Present)."
Also INFO about the Randy Quaid lawsuit - On March 23, 2006, actor Randy Quaid, who played Joe Aguirre (Ennis and Jack's boss), filed a lawsuit against Focus Features (LLC), Del Mar Productions (LLC), James Schamus, David Linde, and Does 1-10 alleging that they intentionally and negligently misrepresented Brokeback Mountain as "a low-budget, art house film with no prospect of making any money" in order to secure Quaid's professional acting services at below-market rates. The film had grossed more than $160 million as of the date of his lawsuit, which sought $10 million plus punitive damages. On May 5, Quaid dropped his lawsuit. Quaid's publicist said he decided to drop the lawsuit after Focus Features agreed to pay him a bonus. Focus Features denies making such a settlement.
-JIMI (the Voodoo Child)
, didn't seem to be of any concern with Mel, if the report is true about how he misled others in their salaries, based on the film's budget. While Mel reaped the finanacial rewards, apparently some of his staff made 'sacrifices' ($$).Similar thing happened with the hit movie BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, where actor Randy Quaid sued the producers (later dropped in exchange for a bonus), saying they had misled him about the film's 'low-budget' status, and had convinced him to accept much less than his usual salary, even though the film had a decent production budget ($14 million + $5 million more in advertising), and was a 'hit' as well, over $178 million in worldwide grosses.
From Wikipedia... "Brokeback Mountain's theatrical run lasted for 133 days and grossed $83,043,761 in North America and $95,000,000 abroad, adding up to a worldwide gross of more than $178 million. It is the top-grossing release of Focus Features, ranks fifth among the highest-grossing westerns, and eighth among the highest-grossing romantic dramas (1980-Present)."
Also INFO about the Randy Quaid lawsuit - On March 23, 2006, actor Randy Quaid, who played Joe Aguirre (Ennis and Jack's boss), filed a lawsuit against Focus Features (LLC), Del Mar Productions (LLC), James Schamus, David Linde, and Does 1-10 alleging that they intentionally and negligently misrepresented Brokeback Mountain as "a low-budget, art house film with no prospect of making any money" in order to secure Quaid's professional acting services at below-market rates. The film had grossed more than $160 million as of the date of his lawsuit, which sought $10 million plus punitive damages. On May 5, Quaid dropped his lawsuit. Quaid's publicist said he decided to drop the lawsuit after Focus Features agreed to pay him a bonus. Focus Features denies making such a settlement.
-JIMI (the Voodoo Child)
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Member since:
March 2002
March 2002
what purpose does the thread title serve?
do you really need someone to explicate it?
like jimi wrote, "the passion of the christ" is about jesus christ, who taught people to be nice to each other. mel gibson lied to his co-screenwriter and lent him $200K--probably charging interest, too. obviously, gibson learned nothing from Mr. JC.
[Post edited by posters5 on Apr 5, 2008]
do you really need someone to explicate it?
like jimi wrote, "the passion of the christ" is about jesus christ, who taught people to be nice to each other. mel gibson lied to his co-screenwriter and lent him $200K--probably charging interest, too. obviously, gibson learned nothing from Mr. JC.
[Post edited by posters5 on Apr 5, 2008]
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Member since:
October 2004
October 2004
Jesus also said "I come not to bring peace, but to bring a sword." Mel's just following orders.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Member since:
June 2006
June 2006
Chris... no doubt Mel is heeding the advice of legal counsel. That's not Eddie's point with this thread, rather it's how he treats his co-professionals in the movie industry. Mel had some personal embarrassment over the past year with being drunk and mouthing some ignorant (and prejudiced) comments about Hollywood (who's enriched him by the way!), and specifically Jewish people.
But this matter of 'Passion' is definitely enlightening as to his professional dealing with co-workers. Yes, Mel took a personal gamble and spent upwards of $50 million of his own money to produce the film, -and- has been well-rewarded with a lion's share of profits. But if the charges here are indeed true, he has mislead the screenwriter concerning financial matters, and the star may be found guilty and pay damages (unless he wisely reaches a settlement).
I've enjoyed Mel's movies for many years, and own several on DVD, HD-DVD, and Blu-ray, but here's another example of his actions reflecting poor 'judgment' (and perhaps outright fraud), and if true will surely cause us and the public to think badly of him (yet again).
And, FYI - Eddie has nothing to apologize for bringing this subject to the "About Everything" section of the Msg Bd. I had not heard this myself, but I promise you I would have ALSO made a thread about this news, as it's important, and relevant to the 'Movies Matter' theme of DVDTOWN.
-JIMI (the Voodoo Child)
But this matter of 'Passion' is definitely enlightening as to his professional dealing with co-workers. Yes, Mel took a personal gamble and spent upwards of $50 million of his own money to produce the film, -and- has been well-rewarded with a lion's share of profits. But if the charges here are indeed true, he has mislead the screenwriter concerning financial matters, and the star may be found guilty and pay damages (unless he wisely reaches a settlement).
I've enjoyed Mel's movies for many years, and own several on DVD, HD-DVD, and Blu-ray, but here's another example of his actions reflecting poor 'judgment' (and perhaps outright fraud), and if true will surely cause us and the public to think badly of him (yet again).
And, FYI - Eddie has nothing to apologize for bringing this subject to the "About Everything" section of the Msg Bd. I had not heard this myself, but I promise you I would have ALSO made a thread about this news, as it's important, and relevant to the 'Movies Matter' theme of DVDTOWN.
-JIMI (the Voodoo Child)
