[via Anil] Martin Grove looks at all the Caesars being rendered unto Mel Gibson as a result of his owning The Passion of The Christ. The money’s enough to make believers out of more than a few Hollywood types, that’s for sure. Hallelujah, indeed.
So what exactly is Gibson’s reward for flogging his movie so relentlessly and for suffering so much at the hands of imaginary critics? Well, if Grove is right, it’s about $600 million net, including profits from domestic and international distribution and DVD sales. That translates into at least a tenfold return on his $60mm (half production, half p&a) investment. Compared to the Bible’s second-most famous sufferer, Job, Gibson’s making [self-]righteous bank; for all his troubles, the Lord only gave Job twice what he’d started with.
Of course, the Good Book promises even more reward, the positively heavenly return of “a hundredfold,” just for “forsak[ing] houses, or brethren, or sisters… or father.” Hmm.