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If you planned to see Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" this weekend at North Pointe Cinema, Warsaw, and don't have a ticket yet, pray for a miracle.
The movie is completely sold out for the entire weekend.
Yvonne Keirn, North Pointe general manager, said even the special screening at 9:30 a.m. Saturday in four theaters is sold out. She said she isn't sure how long the interest in the movie would last, but she is planning another special showing next Saturday at 9:30 a.m. in four theaters.
"I'm very excited," she said. "I couldn't ask for a better (response)."
Buzz about the movie has been growing for a while now.
"We've had two months of calls, steady calls," said Keirn. In the last 48 hours alone, she said this morning, they haven't been able to keep up with the calls on the movie.
At this time, North Pointe is contracted to have the movie for only four weeks. How long the theater has the movie after that depends on ticket sales. Advance ticket sales are available for five to 10 days before a screening.
"If it goes well and keeps going well, they may let me keep it longer," said Keirn. "I know four weeks for sure."
When audiences leave the movie, Keirn said, no one is speaking, they are overwhelmed. Last Sunday, she previewed the movie with her staff of 20 and "they were all crying" and hugging one another. The general audiences have a similar reaction. As one audience leaves the theater, the incoming audience for "The Passion of the Christ" is just awestruck at the expressions on the faces, she said.
"I can't explain it," she said.
To hold the special screenings in four theaters, as Keirn is doing this and next Saturday, Keirn said she had to get special permission from the film company. Usually, movie companies won't let theaters do that, but for this movie, Keirn said, the movie company has been very generous and open to the idea.
And that has been important because with a long movie such as this one - 126 minutes - it's difficult to get in many screenings. But with the special screenings, Keirn said, approximately 1,800 people will get to see "The Passion of the Christ" this weekend who would not have gotten to see it otherwise.
North Pointe has only one print of the film, but for the four theater showing, Keirn said, they use their interlock system, where the same print travels on a pulley system from one theater to the other. Usually, the interlock system is used only for the children's matinees in the summer, rarely for new releases.
"It is a wonderful tool for us to be able to do that and get more exposure for (the movie)," she said. "... I was very excited when they allowed me to do that."
Keirn said she expects good word-of-mouth on the movie, but as for how well it continues to do, "it's pretty hard to estimate. I look for it, with the response we've had now, for it to do very well." She said those who see it will likely tell others they're missing out if they don't see the film.
"You need to do this," she said she was sure audiences will tell others. "It is an experience, it is a feeling. ... It's a great movie. It's just phenomenal."
Several churches have bought large blocks of tickets for the movie. The North Webster United Methodist Church bought out the 7:30 p.m. Wednesday showing, she said.
UMC Pastor Scott Mann said he was invited to a premiere of the movie in January in Chicago along with his associate pastor. After viewing the movie, he said they agreed the movie was done well enough that it would have value for the church members and nonmembers alike.
He said he was not attempting to control responses about the movie, he just thought it was a movie that should be seen.
"The value in it comes when even the people with the best imaginations can't even imagine that kind of stuff in their heads" when reading Scripture, but then see it depicted in the movie. Before the movie, Mann said, he thought he had a very good imagination, but not even he would be able to conjure up the kind of visuals Gibson did in the movie.
"I would say it's pretty doggone accurate," said Mann, who attended Duke University. "I didn't find much about the movie that was contradictory or anti-Semitic."
Those who went with the church Wednesday, Mann said, had a wide variety of reactions, including hugging and crying. The predominant response was being stunned from the movie, he said.
Asked about the long-term effect on people who see the movie, Mann said, "I think that is the question. If this film is involving the gamut of emotion, that's fine. But it means very little if there's no commitment (to the cause) from the people who see it. ... It's a daily process of commitment."
Mann said his church will be doing a four-part series on the movie during the next four weeks. The first two weeks, the focus will be on unconditional love. After that, the focus will be on unconditional forgiveness.
In addition to seeing the premiere in January, Mann also said, "I did sit in on the interview with Mel Gibson. About him, I believe he did this out of his deep sense of belief of Christ and a calling to portray this as accurately as possible. It doesn't mean it's perfect, he said that himself," but he just attempted to try to get the movie as right as possible.
Mann said, "The movie theater worked hard to get this movie. Thanks to Yvonne."
