Passion reaps in profits
2004-06-21 14:28
New York - Controversy and profit, the twin Holy Grail in Hollywood, have blessed Mel Gibson with the number one spot in Forbes magazine's annual list of the world's most powerful celebrities.
Gibson's estimated earnings of $210 from The Passion of the Christ would, by itself, have guaranteed a high-ranking, but it was the reams of news copy generated by the film that ensured his top-dog status.
"Mel made the top 10 in every category we measured this year: money, magazine covers, press clippings, web presence, TV/radio hits," Forbes said in its latest issue.
"The Passion," which portrays Christ's last 12 hours on Earth and was directed, produced and co-written by Gibson, was condemned by some Jewish leaders for its potential to fuel anti-Semitism.
The controversy helped sell the movie which, despite having dialogue entirely in Latin and Aramaic, has taken in around $600m worldwide. After struggling to find a distributor, Gibson had financed it with $25m of his own money.
Gibson took the place of Jennifer Aniston
Gibson took over the number one celebrity spot from "Friends" star Jennifer Aniston, who plunged to 17th on this year's list.
Tying Gibson in earnings was talk show queen Oprah Winfrey, who was ranked third in the most powerful category behind golfer Tiger Woods.
Although Oprah's income was almost three times Woods's $80m, Forbes determined that the sportsperson had greater name recognition.
After a two-year absence from the top 10, Tom Cruise grabbed the number four spot, mostly on the back of the $45m he made from his starring role in Last Samurai.
Perennial rockers Rolling Stones came in at number five after pushing their weary bones through yet another exhaustive world tour, while "Harry Potter" author JK Rowling took the number six spot on earnings of $147.
In its commentary on this year's list, Forbes highlighted the fleeting nature of celebrity, with almost 40% of the stars from last year's list failing to make the cut this time around.
Pop teen idol Britney Spears, who captured the number one spot in 2002, has not made the list since.
"This is the age of the Insta-Celebrity," Forbes said.
"Fame has never come so quickly and been prized so highly - yet rarely has it been so expendable and evanescent," it said, citing the example of last year's Hollywood A-list couple, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, who had placed fifth and seventh respectively on the Forbes list.
"Since then the two have co-starred in two failed films, called off their planned wedding and dropped off our list altogether," it said.