Monty Python's 'Life of Brian'
By REUTERS |
No, it's not Mel Gibson's ``The Passion of the Christ.'' It's Monty
Python's ``Life of Brian.''
Inspired by the runaway success -- and public furor -- over Gibson's
portrayal of the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus, the creators behind
the 1979 biblical satire about an anti-Roman activist who spends his
life being mistaken for a prophet are planning a 25th anniversary
re-release next month.
``Life of Brian'' will open at the end of April in Los Angeles and New
York before expanding to other cities across the country, Rainbow Film
Company president Henry Jaglom, whose distribution arm is reissuing the
film, said on Tuesday.
Jaglom, a writer-director whose partner, John Goldstone, produced the
original film, said trailers for the comedy would appear in theaters
starting on Good Friday.
``We decided this is an important time to re-release this film, to
provide some counter-programing to 'The Passion,''' Jaglom told Reuters.
``I intend it, hopefully, to serve as an antidote to all the hysteria
about Mel's movie.''
He said marketing for the re-release would play off Gibson's film by
adapting such taglines as ``Mel or Monty'' and ``The Passion or the
Python'' -- ``we want to give people a choice.''
The members of the Monty Python comedy troupe -- John Cleese, Terry
Gilliam, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and the late Graham Chapman (who
played Brian) -- all shared writing credits on the film and won back
theatrical rights to it several years ago. Jaglom said the surviving
members ``all agreed this was a good time'' to re-release the film and
would help promote it.
``Life of Brian,'' stirred an uproar all its own 25 years ago, with some
Christians condemning the film as blasphemous. The film only got made
when former Beatle George Harrison stepped in to finance the picture
after EMI Films withdrew from the project, fearing that it was too
controversial.
But that distinction was lost on some who were offended by the
irreverent flavor of the film, including a scene in which several
crucifixion victims sing and whistle the tune ``Look On the Bright Side
of Life'' while hanging on crosses.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Coming back soon to a theater near you -- a
controversial film about a Jewish guy from Nazareth who is worshiped as
the Messiah and crucified by the Romans.
Owing to a heavy turnout by Christian moviegoers and weeks of intense
media attention, Gibson's film opened to blockbuster success on Feb. 25
-- Ash Wednesday. ``The Passion'' has gone on to generate nearly $300
million in North American ticket sales alone, becoming the
highest-grossing R-rated film of all time.
The movie focused on the fictional Brian of Nazareth, a Jew who is born
in the manger next-door to Jesus and grows up to join an anti-Roman
separatist group called the Judean People's Front but ends up being
mistaken for the Messiah. The film's creators have said it was meant as
a spoof on Bible films and intolerance rather than Christianity.