Mel Gibson Has A Secret

Maybe Mel Gibson is afraid churches all over the world will come looking to him for money, or his own church wondering why he didn't tithe what he was supposed to. Maybe he is screwing profit participants or investors, or doesn't want his wife to know how much he makes. For whatever reason though, Mel Gibson wants all the financial records having to do with The Passion Of The Christ sealed so the public will not know the movie's domestic and foreign box office receipts, production costs and distribution expenses.

What's the big secret Mel? Right now Mel is being sued because he lied to the co-writer of the film. He told the writer the budget would be about $4M in order to get the writer to accept a much smaller than normal payment. The writer agreed. When the budget turned out to be $35M, needless to say the writer was pissed and sued. The aggrieved writer, Benedict Fitzgerald is also suing Mel for fraud in the action which would allow him to get punitive damages. That means big bucks.

Fitzgerald's lawyers will still be able to see the financial documents of the film, and hopefully the judge will let all of us see it as well.